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Superintendent outlines attendance plan, pauses common lunch and proposes 'JAG time' to support students
Summary
Superintendent Missus Permili reported the district's 2023–24 chronically absent rate was about 20% and described interventions and a proposed 'JAG time' schedule for academic support and student engagement, targeted to begin in early December.
Superintendent Missus Permili told the board the district must submit an action plan to address chronic absenteeism under state rules, and said the most recent performance data available (2023–24) showed about 20% of students were chronically absent (defined by the state as missing more than 10% of the school year).
Permili described a multi-pronged approach the district uses to address attendance: notification letters at multiple absence thresholds, outreach and well visits by the school attendance officer when families do not respond, an attendance review committee that works with students and parents on goal setting, and in-school interventions including mentoring and individualized remediation. She said the district is shifting to more in-school suspensions (ISS) in some cases to allow staff to remediate behavior while students are present.
Addressing concerns raised at a previous meeting about student behavior and the common lunch period at the high school, Permili said the district paused the common lunch because students were filming and encouraging fights and because many students were not using the time as intended. As an alternative, the high school administrative team is developing a schedule element called "JAG time" intended to give students time for extra help, makeup work, homework completion, access to clubs and teacher support. The district plans to provide more details to families and hopes to roll out the new schedule at the start of marking period 3 in early December.
Permili emphasized the district’s focus on engagement as an attendance strategy: "We want our students to eat," she said, noting that shifting the lunch to a period where over 500 more students are eating daily has improved access to meals. She also noted that the district is surveying students, staff and parents now and will resurvey in late spring to measure progress.
The superintendent reiterated that disciplinary actions follow due process and are handled on a case-by-case basis, and described supports such as corrective action plans and contracts designed to remediate behaviors and preserve a safe learning environment.
