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District outlines updated attendance protocols and summer interventions as trustees flag low enrollment in third‑grade reading camp
Summary
Administrators presented a draft attendance protocol, meetings with the juvenile solicitor, and summer learning programs; trustees raised concerns that only 144 of an estimated ~250 eligible third‑graders were registered and questioned communication and transportation for host sites.
District administrators presented a draft attendance protocol and a package of academic strategies on June 9 that pair attendance enforcement with expanded intervention services and summer programming, but trustees raised immediate concerns about outreach and capacity.
Dr. Tvita Harriet (attendance lead) said the attendance manual is still in draft and described steps the district has taken: meetings with the juvenile solicitor to coordinate responses, training for school leaders, and a patient protocol sequence including letters, school interventions and, in extreme cases after following procedures, a referral to the Department of Social Services for educational neglect. “As mandated reporters…that could be a report that could be made to DSS in the fact that the student is not attending school,” she said.
Administrators summarized summer offerings: 4K enrichment (30 students), required third‑grade reading camp hosted at two sites (144 students registered, district estimate ~250 eligible), elementary enrichment, credit recovery for high‑school students (38 signed up, 23 attending) and a districtwide REACH program (146 students). Trustees and several board members said transportation to two host sites created long bus rides for some elementary students and that registration numbers suggested families were not receiving timely or clear communication; one trustee estimated routes could require start times around 6:30 a.m. for some areas.
On third‑grade reading camp the administration said attendance is voluntary even though the camp is state‑required when a child falls below the cut score; the district acknowledged gaps in registration and committed to provide the board with outreach and notification records to show which parents were notified and how many refused or failed to enroll.
Trustees also discussed midyear graduation and honor‑graduate rules after a public complaint: administrators said midyear graduates currently are withdrawn from PowerSchool and excluded from final class ranking under current practice, and they will take a draft policy to the policy committee to consider options for recognizing midyear graduates without undermining ranking and scholarship rules.
Board members asked the administration to post final attendance procedures publicly, to provide the exact count of chronically absent students, and to show outreach documentation for summer programs.
