Dallas ISD plans to spend millions of dollars to help solve it chronic absentee problem.<\/p>\n
Chronic absenteeism is defined as when a student misses at least 10% of a year\u2019s classes.<\/p>\n
Currently, almost a quarter of Dallas ISD\u2019s student body falls into that category, said Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde. The state average is 19%, according to the Texas Education Agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cChronic absenteeism is not going away,\u201d she told trustees at a briefing earlier this month. \u201cMinor incremental improvement is not going to change our student outcomes. We’ve got to find a way to support them. So we wanted to try something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
The school board on Thursday approved spending up to $5 million on personal and software efforts designed to get the chronically absent students back into their classroom. A vendor or vendors have not yet been chosen.<\/p>\n
The problem with absent students soared locally and nationally after the COVID-19 shutdowns. The TEA numbers pre-COVID hovered at about 11%. In 2021, 2022 and 2023 the numbers were double pre-COVID numbers. <\/p>\n
Dallas Trustee Bryon Sanders welcomed the district spending money to tackle the district\u2019s ongoing chronic absenteeism.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is one of the most important things happening in public … actually, any education right now, public, private. We’ve seen it all over the place,\u201d Sanders said earlier this month. \u201cI know a lot of districts are twiddling their thumbs and just kind of lamenting that we have the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill Zeeble is KERA\u2019s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at\u00a0bzeeble@kera.org<\/a>. You can follow him on X\u00a0@bzeeble<\/a>.<\/p>\n KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider\u00a0making a tax-deductible gift today<\/a>. Thank you.<\/p>\n