Goals for the Attendance Plan

1. A school's response for this section should be in SMART format for improving attendance for each category reported in the data tables.
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic/Rewarding
• Timely
2. Address early grades at your school level (K & 1, 6th Grade, 9th Grade). Analyze school-wide data to determine needs at grade levels and times of year when challenges occur more often.

School attendance data are provided reporting percent of students with satisfactory attendance, at-risk attendance, chronic absenteeism, and severe chronic absenteeism. The two-year trend allows for comparison of attendance over time and an indication of how strategies implemented to improve attendance are working.

Goal 1: In 2017/18, the grade level with the most students in chronic absence was kindergarten with 31 total students (20 chronic and 11 severe chronic absent). In kindergarten, our goal is to reduce the number of students with chronic absenteeism by 10 students.  (about 8%)
 
Goal 2: Overall chronic absence in 2017/18 was 16.5% (11.1% chronic, 5.4% severe chronic). Our goal is to reduce overall chronic absence by 5% (about 35 students).
 
Goal 3: In 2017/18, 3rd grade had the highest level of students with satisfactory attendance with 78.0% of students attending 95% or more school days. The goal for satisfactory attendance is to
increase the percentage of students attending 95% or more in every grade level.

Tier 1 Strategies for Attendance

Tier 1 Strategies for Attendance - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 1 is aimed at 100% of students, parents, school staff, and community stakeholders. This is where you cast a wide net. Strategies are general to reach the largest audiences and include all employees and stakeholders.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

• The administrative staff responsible for school attendance will ensure that all teachers have been educated on how to take attendance using presentation from Student Services titled, Classroom Attendance: Record Keeping
• Administrative team will meet once a month with IMT and School Social Worker/School Counselor/Community Liaison to review attendance data to help monitor students with potential poor patterns of attendance.

• School Social Worker will discuss attendance policy with parents at open house, conferences, parent meetings, PTA/SAC meetings.  School staff will also be encouraged to reach out to parents via phone or email and remind them the importance of daily attendance in early grades.
• Front office staff will provide quality customer service ensuring a welcoming environment when visitors enter the front office (students, parents, guests, District staff)
• Attendance line will be checked and cleared daily by IMT
• Promote positive messages about benefits of attending school everyday on school website and communication.  Attendance banner will be placed in front office for all parents to view.
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Teachers will acknowledge students with good attendance, and provide in class incentives.
• School-wide recognition for students with good attendance throughout the year; ie. Certificates at quarterly awards ceremony, recognizing students with good attendance on morning announcements, and recognizing classes for the best attendance
• D. Provide Personalized Outreach
• School staff will host a transition meeting for student moving from pre-k into kindergarten.  Families will meet the team of teachers, tour the school, and learn about the importance of regular attendance for their child’s academic success.
• Attendance will be included on the student report cards.
• Integrate information about chronic absence into parent programs and communications throughout the school year.
• E. Remove Barriers
• This school provides free breakfast for all students, every school day.
• A bike rack, enclosed in a locked gate is available for students that arrive by bike.  The rack is locked after school begins and is unlocked and monitored by staff after school. 
• The Community Liaison from Family and Community will host parent nights throughout the year to inform parents about services, programs, and referral information.
•  

Tier 2 Strategies and Interventions to Improve Attendance

Tier 2 Strategies and Interventions to Improve Attendance - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 2 identifies students using early warning indicators to make connections with students and families at the onset of the school year or emergence of patterns of non-attendance. Early warning indicators include prior year chronic absenteeism, 3 or more absences in the first 4 weeks of enrollment, more than 10% of school days absent in any time period from the beginning of enrollment.

- Tier 2 represents between 10-20% of students at all schools in Broward County. This is true at individual schools and across the District.

- Chronic Absenteeism: Absent for 10% or more school days. These absences include excused, unexcused, and suspensions as days of instruction missed.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

A. Monitor Data

• The support team will review Opti-Spool pattern of non-attendance report during support team meetings. 
• Teachers will monitor attendance and identify students that have 3 to 5 absences, and follow up with parents through correspondence (ie. Phone calls, emails, conferences).
• School Social Worker will conduct weekly 5 day BTIP meeting to advise parents of School Board Attendance policy and Broward Truancy Intervention Program (BTIP)
• School Counselors/School Social Worker will monitor attendance to help identify students that may need more wrap around services.

• Community Liaison, as apart of the support team, will reach out by phone to speak with parents of students that are at risk of becoming chronically absent or tardy.
• Parents and student will work with the School Counselor or Social Worker to develop a personalized Student Success Plan for Attendance to assist student with improving attendance.
• Community Liaison/School Social Worker will help identify any family needs and connect the family with services (food pantry, clothing assistance, community resources, therapeutic services, and transportation).

• We will work with students and families to set attendance goals and time frames that are attainable to

• Recognize these students for good and improved attendance.

• School Social Worker or member of support staff will attend parent teacher conferences to discuss absences and identify needs for assistance.

• Involve public agencies and community partners and resources as needed to address barriers identified through parent conferences, communications with family, or other resources.
• Involve the school nurse when necessary to follow up on medical related absences.
• Refer families to the School Social Worker to provide an understanding of the role of the School Social Worker, establish a relationship, and offer clinical support and services.
• Connect families with Community Liaison to form relationships and educate families to community resources.

Tier 3 Interventions

Tier 3 Interventions - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 3 is the highest level of intervention and support for students that are absent 20% or more school days during the year.

- At most schools, Tier 3 interventions are utilized for about 5% (or less) of the student population.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

A. Monitor Data

• Identify students with a history of severe chronic absenteeism (missing more than 20% of a school year)
• Support team will monitor the non attendance report from OptiSpool, data from BASIS to identify students that are missing too many school days.

• Refer students to appropriate service agencies (social services, human resources, counseling, housing, homeless education dept. (HEART), and health services.
• Share data with appropriate agencies and ensure that agencies are addressing chronic absenteeism when assisting families.
• Utilize best practices from schools within the District that have been able to decrease chronic absences and increase satisfactory attendance.

• For the students at Tier 3, appropriate positive reinforcements will be included in their Attendance Success

• Tangible incentives may be utilized to help students and parents improve attendance.

• Continue to maintain positive and regular contact with the family.
• Review attendance success plans and communicate with parents twice a quarter.
• Refer family to School Social Worker to assist with attendance concerns.
• Follow up with each absence

• Implement agreed upon family intervention family plan, and monitor progress.
• Connect students with chronic physical and mental health issues to providers.
• For cases of suspected abuse, neglect, or endangerment, contact the appropriate agencies to report