Hays CISD adopts new attendance policy

BUDA — Parents across Hays CISD are divided over the district’s new attendance policy, which states that a student could be unenrolled if they are absent without contact for five days. The policy was adopted by the board of trustees on Aug. 28.

The policy states, “The district may initiate withdrawal of a student under the age of 19 for nonattendance under the following conditions:

1. The student has been absent for five consecutive school days; and

2. Efforts by the attendance officer and/or principal to locate the student have been unsuccessful.”

The change in policy concerned trustee Vanessa Petrea as she recognized that some families are going through delicate situations, and this could only add to the stress they’re facing; however, Hays CISD Chief Communication Officer Tim Savoy stressed that the policy is not intended to target families who are struggling.

“This [policy] just allows us to take students that we’re not able to reach, who have moved away, maybe, and didn't notify or tell us. [The policy] allows us to not lose funding to our district from the state,” said Savoy. “If [the student is] struggling with things that are happening outside of school, it does impact [their] ability to learn in school … We have a number of resources that are available and we do a lot of outreach, especially with chronic attendance situations. That's what our attendance officers [do], that's all they do — they work with families to try to overcome challenges — whether it be transportation or just whatever's happening in the family life because at the end of the day, if you're struggling with stuff at home, that's going to be more important to you.”

According to Dr. Brian Dawson, director of student services, there are multiple procedures the campus must go through before withdrawing a student. The district-mandated procedures follow prescribed processes established by the director of Student Information Services (SIS) for attendance clerks and to obtain approval for withdrawal of a student. No approvals will be passed unless the procedures are followed.

The Department of Student Services will work in partnership with the SIS to ensure the process is honored:

1. Before a student is withdrawn, the campus must be able to show that it has made a good faith effort to locate the student’s whereabouts, which includes phone calls, emails, home visits, etc., that have been documented and can be shared with the Office of Student Services to ensure that its attempts are thorough.

2. Campus administrators will communicate with the director of student services when they have students marked absent and unresponsive for three days, allowing attendance intervention specialists to support campus efforts before a student gets to five days.

3. The director of SIS will receive notification from the director of student services when a student is being considered for withdrawal for non-attendance and verify the information pertaining to the student being considered for withdrawal, including confirming the student had the correct number of consecutive absences and that absences are all unexcused and exist in all periods.

4. If the student did not have the correct absences or the correct absence codes, the director of SIS will not give approval for a student to be withdrawn.

5. If the information is accurate, the director of SIS will communicate with the director of student services that the information is accurate.

6. If an approval to withdraw a student is given:

• The director of student services will communicate the approval of withdrawal of a student to the campus administration.

• The director of SIS will give authorization to withdrawal to the campus registrar/PEIMS clerk.

7. A student withdrawal cannot happen without the explicit approval of both the director of student services and the director of SIS.

The policy aims to help the district maintain its funding from the state. Although local taxes are allocated to “Hays CISD,” the district does not directly get this money. Rather, it is distributed from the state through average daily attendance (ADA).

Schools receive a large portion of funding from the state through basic allotment per student in ADA, according to the Texas Education Agency. The basic allotment is funded to provide education for each student. In fiscal year 2022, the basic allotment was $6,610 per student with 100% attendance. Each time this percentage decreases, so does the amount of funding. Districts also have weighted average daily attendance — which supplements its basic funding — for students in programs such as career and technology education (CTE), students that achieve college, career or military readiness and more, according to the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association.

Savoy explained that the reason attendance is so important is because the district has seen a decrease in its ADA since the pandemic. Before, it had an average of 96-97%, but after the pandemic, it regularly saw numbers of 91-92%. According to Hays CISD trustee Raul Vela Jr., the attendance rate for the first week of the 2023-24 school was “great,” at 96.27%.

The funding that comes from ADA is entirely operational — it pays for staff, bills, gas for buses, equipment in CTEs and more. It is crucial to the success of the district, said Savoy, and if it decreases, the district begins to see the effects.

The amount of money each student brings for attending is why parents like Shana Santistevan believe the district “very much sees [her] kids as a number.”

“At what point did we stop considering what is best for the student? It feels very much that my kids are a number right now and it doesn’t matter what their actual physical, mental or emotional needs are,” Santistevan said.

“It’s very clear this policy has nothing to do with keeping kids in school for their academic achievement since nothing has been brought up about missing schoolwork, missing assignments or even sending home any make up work. Only that we are on day eight of missed absences and the state of Texas requires 90% attendance, which is 18 days,” she added.

Although Savoy understands how it could seem as though the district is unconcerned with students from the outside, he argued that the state funding system is to blame.

“We don't see the kids as a number, but the way the state funds education, they see them as a number,” said Savoy. “It's just a way to try to make sure we're getting all of the tax dollars back for our school district.”

Santistevan was also concerned about the district’s communication and transparency regarding the new attendance policy.

“Right now, we are struggling with the attendance policy,” Santistevan said. “I received a call from [school] staff regarding my twins being absent eight times and how early it is in the school year. Last week, our entire family was out with COVID symptoms and running a fever. This week, we have one kiddo out with a broken hand and is dealing with a lot [of] pain. This entire time, I have communicated all of this with the staff and teachers, but all of a sudden, today, they had no idea why they had been absent. I have called, emailed and even went to the school.”

Lack of communication was not only Santistevan’s experience, but also Hays CISD trustee Courtney Runkle’s.

At the Aug. 28 Hays CISD Board of Trustees meeting, she was adamant that the district’s communication needs to be drastically improved, citing that staff had been told about the new rules when they were not yet implemented, resulting in parents being misinformed — not only for this policy, but as a whole.

“Communication needs to improve in this district,” said Runkle. “I have heard over the course of the last two weeks that emails go unanswered, voicemails go unanswered and [that there is] a lack of communication. We need to clean it up, tighten it up. We need to find better ways to communicate to our campuses to ensure that the proper communication is happening.”

Savoy noted that the district’s email system was down for three weeks due to a technical error, which contributed to the communication issues, but assured community members that everything should be back to normal.

Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright noted that there was one staff member who proceeded with the policy prior to its implementation, but declared that “she does need to be trained and she needs to be dealt with on an individual basis … We do need great ADA, and communication is key, and so we'll take our medicine and we'll move on.”

Despite the potential communication issues, Hays High School parent Jeff Robinson stated that he is in support of the policy, as it aids with school funding: “With any child being welcomed into school, regardless of permanent residency status, 'ghosted' desks are going to happen pretty frequently as parents move around the country for employment. If this is what they need to do to keep clean rolls, proper funding and an earned rating, I support it.”

Parent Rachel Aguilar was also in support of the policy, emphasizing a parent’s role in their student’s education.

“Going multiple days without notifying the school of a child's absence is what I gather the district policy is trying to avoid and therefore will be considered negligent on the parent,” said Aguilar. “This falls on the parent's responsibility, and I believe the district is trying to avoid penalties for absences because parents are not reporting attendance to the school in a timely manner.”

Savoy stressed that the police is important because it will allow the district to provide better resources for its students.

“It's a policy that benefits all of the students who are here,” said Savoy. “Our whole district suffers in terms of getting money back from the state [if those students aren’t removed]. That affects our ability to operate and provide world class education services and benefits to employees to attract that. It fits in. [You have] the best employees because you are giving cost of living raises and they have the equipment they need to do their jobs. And then, you have the equipment that you need to put together programs for kids.”

The policy is now in effect. Parents with questions or concerns can speak to campus attendance clerks or visit  www.hayscisd.net/Page/12505.