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'Attendance Counts' Launches
August 25, 2016 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC, Public Relations & Communications Officer
352.671.7555 ◊ FAX: 352.671.7735 ◊ CELL: 352.840.3265
Email: Public.Relations@Marion.k12.fl.us
MARION COUNTY – Today, Superintendent George Tomyn and Marion County Public Schools kick off the second round of a month-long campaign emphasizing the importance of attending school.
Why? Because “Attendance Counts,” as the name of the campaign indicates.
When a student misses class, they miss out on learning in the prime learning environment – the traditional classroom.
Last school year in Marion County, 16.12 percent of elementary students missed more than 10 percent of class. Middle and high students reached 16.22 percent and 21.56 percent, respectively, including excused and unexcused absences. Though last year’s campaign resulted in the best attendance rate in six years, still 17.97 percent of students district wide missed at least 10 percent of school. Regardless of reason, when a student misses class, student education suffers.
Consider this -- if the average student misses just two days of class each month, this adds up to 18 days of school – 10 percent of the entire school year.
“Attendance Counts” uses multiple channels to deliver the message of how important it is for all students to be in school every day.
Parents and students will receive periodic phone calls, emails, and text messages encouraging students to attend every day of class. School newsletters will stress the same message. Electronic flyers will appear in inboxes urging daily attendance. Social media messages on the district’s Twitter account (@MarionCountyK12), along with school-based accounts, will also reinforce the message. Younger students will see reminders on morning television announcements and school marquees. Middle and high school students will also see marquee messages, school posters, and other classroom reminders to be in school every day.
The goal is to increase the district’s overall attendance rate at least two percent over the entire school year. While this may sound low, this equates to 860 students – more than the entire student bodies of many Marion County schools. If this many students increase their attendance and are in school every day, district officials hope the impact will spread to other chronically-absent students.
New to this year’s campaign, district and school attendance leaders will re-emphasize “Attendance Counts” to high school juniors and seniors mid-year in January. The goal is to convince older students to stay in school and complete their high school education.
School business partners and community organizations are encouraged to display “Attendance Counts” messages on their marquees and employee bulletin boards. Local media are asked to share the message to foster a more-informed community and better-educated work force. School district attendance specialists, social workers, and attendance clerks will all use data to better track attendance and reach out to those students and families on the brink of chronic absenteeism (10 percent).
“To narrow the achievement gap and continue reducing our dropout rate, we must bring this problem under control, and that means starting early,” said Superintendent George Tomyn.
“All our efforts to improve curriculum and instruction will not matter if kids are not in school,” he added.
For more information, contact 352.671.7555 or visit www.attendanceworks.org or www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/school-attendance-issues/.