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: Satisfactory attendance decreased by 1.14% from 2016/17 to 2017/18. Our goal is to increase school-wide satisfactory attendance by at least 1% for 2018/19. 

Goal 2: Overall chronic absenteeism increased 0.8% (13.13% to 13.92%) from 2016/17 to 2017/18. The District average in 2017/18 was 13.2%. Our goal is to decrease chronic absenteeism by at least 1% by the end of 2018/19. 

Goal 3: Kindergarten and 1st grade have higher levels of chronic absenteeism for school years 16/17 and 17/18. Our goal for early grades are to increase satisfactory attendance and decrease chronic absenteeism. 

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 attendance taking procedures are monitored weekly by the Attendance Clerk. 
• Teachers have received training to follow up with attendance procedures for students who have frequent tardies and unexcused absences.
• Each quarter, administrators monitor attendance in BASIS and Data Warehouse for school-wide recognition and to set goals for students

B. Engage Students and Families

• School staff is encouraged to communicate with parents by phone, email, and ClassDojo of the importance of attendance.
• Front office staff will meet monthly to discuss customer service responsibilities and will modify procedures that will encourage a friendly environment when entering the school. 
• ClassDojo account and ParentLink will deliver positive and supportive messages about attendance to the stakeholders.
• Attendance Clerk will monitor and clear the attendance phone line adequately and daily. 

• Attendance recognition events will occur throughout the school year. This will include quarterly certificates in Honor Roll Assemblies. 

• The school staff will host a "Kindergarten Round-Up" for students moving from Pre-K into Kindergarten. The families will have the opportunity to meet the teachers, tour the school, and attendance procedures. 
• Attendance will be included on all student report cards for each quarter. 
• Relay the importance of attendance during Student Advisory Council meetings as well as Family events. 

• The school provides free breakfast to all students every school day. 
• A bicycle rack is enclosed in a lock gate that is easily accessible for students that arrive by bicycle. The bicycle rack is locked after school begins and is unlocked and monitored by staff after school. 
• Through Student Advisory Council meetings, administrators keep parents and stakeholders up to date with services, programs, and district policies. 

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

• Weekly, using BASIS, the leadership team will identify students that meet the criteria to be considered chronically absent. 
• Teachers monitor attendance using Pinnacle and BASIS and consult with support staff and administration for assistance in redirecting absenteeism.
• Administrators and school counselor will monitor and address attendance with the leadership team to identify students that may need to be referred for additional services.

• School counselor will communicate with parents of chronically absent students to offer any support needed for the families. 
• School counselor or social worker will create a student success plan for attendance for students who have excessive absences and tardies to ensure that the student gets back on track with good attendance. 
• Staff identifies students who require family support and provide families with supplements such as "Friday Bags."

• Recognize specific students weekly for improved attendance and motivate students by providing positive reinforcement for their efforts. 
• In the process of working with families and students to promote good attendance and set goals to avoid chronically absenteeism.

• Our school utilizes a Mentor Program that assists with at-risk students to form relationships that encourage better attendance. 
• Parent-teacher conferences with leadership team will be scheduled to discuss and remediate absences and provide solutions to omit barriers.

• Involve the school nurse when necessary to follow-up on medically related absences and will provide training to staff to recognize signs of illnesses. 
• Connect families with the School Social Worker to provide insight as to the role of the School Social Worker to establish a relationship and provide a clinical support. 
•  

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).
• Leadership team will monitor the non-attendance report from OptiSpool, data from BASIS to identify students that are missing too many school days.
• Attendance data is one of the main metrics brought to discussion for Collaborative Problem-Solving Team (CPST) and Response-to-Intervention (RtI). Attendance data may help uncover bigger issues the student or family are experiencing.

• Refer students to appropriate service agencies (social services, human resources, counseling, housing, the HEART team for homeless education, or health services).
• Share data with appropriate agencies and ensure that agencies are using chronic absence as an indicator for assisting families.
• Utilize best practices from schools within the District that have been able to decrease chronic absences and increase satisfactory attendance.
• The Broward Truancy Intervention Plan (BTIP) may initiate truancy letters to hold 5-day or 10-day meetings with the parents, principal (or designee), District representative, and State Attorney’s Office for the 17^th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

• For the students at Tier 3, appropriate positive reinforcements will be included in their “Attendance Success Plan” to support continued improved attendance. This plan will be developed with the parents, School Counselor, and School Social Worker. Plans and goals will be shared with the child’s teachers.
• Tangible incentives may be utilized to help students and parents improve attendance.

• Ensure continued positive and regular contact with the family.
• Check-in on “Attendance Success Plans” and communicate with parents at regular intervals. If the plan is not referenced regularly with positive reinforcement, the plan is not being supported.
• Consult with the School Social Worker as a resource for helping families with attendance problems.
• When the student misses school, ensure the assigned personnel is following up on each absence.

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