Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Sites topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Gilroy principals outline plans to lower chronic absenteeism and raise test scores
Summary
Principals from El Roble, South Valley and Mount Madonna told the Gilroy Unified board their priorities are reducing chronic absenteeism, strengthening tiered interventions and PLC-driven instruction; each site highlighted local attendance trends and targeted actions for English learners and students with disabilities.
Camille Epps, principal of El Roble Elementary, told the Gilroy Unified School District board that the site will focus this year on reducing chronic absenteeism and increasing proficiency in ELA and math.
"We don't want 24% sitting at chronic absenteeism," Epps said, and described a mix of strategies: a district-provided attendance tracker to identify students who should receive letters, professional learning community cycles that set and monitor SMART goals, and a literacy facilitator to provide targeted support. Epps also noted El Roble's higher share of students with disabilities (about 21% at the site, versus roughly 13% districtwide) as a factor shaping interventions.
South Valley Middle School principal Maritza Salcedo reported steady early-year overall attendance of 95.1% through Oct. 31, but drew attention to a 22% chronic-absence rate from the previous year. Salcedo outlined schoolwide expectations anchored in AVID strategies, daily planners for students, strengthened PLCs focused on writing across content, and partnerships with Kelso academic coaches and Youth Alliance tutors to deliver targeted ELD and after-school supports.
At Mount Madonna High School, the new principal said the campus serves about 150 students with substantial needs (the site is about 76% socioeconomically disadvantaged, with roughly 30% English learners). The principal highlighted a new dual-enrollment relationship with Gavilan College (seven students have applied to begin classes next spring) and emphasized credit recovery, Power Cafe programming, and a wellness center to reengage students who face transportation, childcare and other barriers to attendance.
Board members asked site leaders detailed questions about the new attendance-tracking tool, grade-level trends, how PLC commitments translate to changed instruction, translation of parent workshops, and the caseload for specialized staff such as literacy facilitators. School leaders described using multiple local screeners (i-Ready, STAR, diagnostics) to triangulate need and said teachers use small-group instruction and progress monitoring to target students in the large "middle" cohort who are near grade level but require acceleration.
The presentations each concluded with trustees offering praise and urging the sites to continue sharing progress data with the board as new interventions are implemented.
What happens next: Sites said they will return with progress updates through PLC notes and district reporting; the board voiced support for continued emphasis on attendance, instructional shifts tied to data, and bilingual family engagement.
