Plano ISD updates trustees on PARB, says program has cut referrals and boosted attendance

Assistant Superintendent Courtney Gober updated the Plano ISD Board of Trustees on the Plano Attendance Review Board (PARB), the district’s tiered intervention program for students with chronic absenteeism. Gober said PARB focuses on identifying barriers for students and families and providing supports short of court referral. "This is the board that was established a few years ago and supports students and their families who are experiencing chronic absenteeism," Gober said.

Gober illustrated PARB’s impact with a case example: a student who had an attendance rate of roughly 48% when referred to PARB finished the year with 86% attendance. Gober said, by aggregating similar cases, the district has preserved what she described as a little over 3,000 in salvaged average daily attendance (ADA) compared with earlier practices that resulted in higher court filings. She also said PARB has received recognition from other districts and is a recipient of a governor’s truancy‑prevention grant of about $96,000 covering the first year of a three‑year award that runs through September 2027.

Trustees praised the local innovation and asked about the program’s origins. Gober credited former director Sharon Bradley and said legal and county‑court backlogs after 2016 prompted the district to build PARB as a more personable, family‑centered alternative to court. Trustee Sam Johnson asked whether the program was local and Gober said it began in Plano and has since been adopted in similar forms by other districts. Trustee Tara Lance and other board members also thanked staff for the work and encouraged sharing student voices; trustees asked to show the student videos more widely because they convey why attending school matters to pupils.

Next steps: the board did not take formal action during this report; Gober answered trustee questions and the presentation moved to the next agenda item.