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VCUSD presents three-year attendance plan update, sets 24% chronic-absence goal
Summary
Director Dr. Kelly told the Vallejo City Unified board the district's layered MTSS attendance strategy, combined with automated outreach and human follow-up, reduced chronic absenteeism from 58.1% (pre-pandemic) to 35.8% in 2023-24 and set a new goal of 24% for the current year.
Dr. Kelly, director of student support services for Vallejo City Unified, told the board on Sept. 3 that attendance is central to the district's three-year plan and to students' access to instruction. "Attendance is at the heart of that theme," he said, framing the work around a tiered MTSS approach of universal (Tier 1), targeted (Tier 2) and intensive (Tier 3) supports.
The presentation explained how district campaigns (Attendance Awareness Month and themed months) and human outreach by child-welfare and attendance (CWA) liaisons complement automated messages. Dr. Kelly said the district made 11,313 family contacts in 2024-25 and reported a roughly 40% "save" rate among those families reached. He also said the district's early-warning tool (H2A) sent 39,651 contacts last year and that the district is transitioning to Everyday Labs for more targeted text/email messaging paired with personal follow-up.
Board members pressed for details about local practice and equity. Trustees asked whether every elementary classroom runs regular incentives; Dr. Kelly said schools use a mix of incentives (door displays, competitions, site-level campaigns) and described a planned "10-10-10" outreach step after each campaign (10 students, 10 staff, 10 families) to identify improvement leads. Trustees also flagged misreporting of attendance when substitutes take roll; Dr. Kelly acknowledged the problem and said the district will coordinate with business services to strengthen accounting practices that feed Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding.
Dr. Kelly identified recurring drivers of absenteeism: Mondays and Fridays, extended vacations, transportation and caregiver challenges. He noted two distinct spikes: a December spike that coincided with a districtwide student walkout and a February spike the district believes is connected in part to immigration-enforcement fears. "We saw the same trend across colleagues in the state and nationally," he said, noting the district will apply the same MTSS and communication strategies to address the February rise.
To recover instructional hours, the district plans after-school programs and "Super Saturdays" where four hours of certified instruction counts as one day toward recovery, consistent with state guidance on recouping instructional time when a certificated teacher is present. Dr. Kelly said the district will also engage partners such as Graduation Alliance for intensive outreach when needed, and expand supports for severe chronic absenteeism.
The presentation closed with performance context: chronic absenteeism fell from 58.1% (pre-pandemic benchmark cited by the presenter) to 35.8% in 2023-24, a 22.3 percentage-point decline, and the district set a 24% chronic-absence goal for the coming year. Dr. Kelly invited questions and said staff will continue to refine communications, bilingual outreach and transportation options as part of the multi-tier plan.
The board followed with student and trustee questions about promotion and visibility of incentives, transportation gaps for younger students, and outreach to families; staff said they are developing Super Saturday curricula and will finalize promotion and logistics before rollout.
