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District outlines attendance compliance and strategy; staff links small attendance gains to millions in funding
Summary
Operations staff detailed attendance compliance triggers (3, 5, 10 unexcused absences), interventions, and outreach strategies; finance staff estimated a 1% attendance increase yielded about $1.5 million in extra revenue and described funding risks tied to attendance-based state funding.
The board’s workshop included a three-part presentation on attendance: Tim Andrews (coordinator of student support) reviewed compulsory attendance requirements and the district’s warning and truancy triggers; Amanda Castro Cris presented engagement and outreach strategies to reduce chronic absenteeism; and Dwayne explained funding impacts and enrollment trends.
Tim described the compliance process tied to Texas Education Code chapter 25: warning letters at registration, truancy letters after three unexcused absences, an Attendance Behavior Improvement Plan at five unexcused absences, and elevation to district attendance officers at 10 unexcused absences. "We start school as we accumulate unexcused absences at 3 unexcused absences, and this is law that we send a truancy letter," Andrews said, summarizing the staged interventions.
Amanda emphasized root causes and prevention: transportation, health, and poverty-related barriers and the need for consistent family messaging, surveys to learn why students miss school and recognition of improved attendance. "If you are chronically absent for several years in a row, you're up to 4 times more likely not to graduate," she said.
Dwayne tied attendance to funding: the district experienced a roughly 1% increase in attendance that yielded about $1.5 million in additional revenue, and he warned that Texas funds districts on attendance rather than enrollment, which complicates staffing and budgeting. He described a 2.4% enrollment decline over five years equivalent to roughly $6.9 million in lost revenue. Trustees discussed verification, outreach to families without technology, and procedures for extracurricular attendance lists.
