Attendance Does Matter!

Welcome to Howell Middle School Student Success Page.  It is my goal to help remove barriers that prevent students from succeeding.  One of the most important factors that contribute to a student's academic success is your child's attendance in class on a daily basis.

Our Goal is to have Every Child in Every Classroom Every Day. We can help your child succeed by working together as a Wildcat Team of parents, teachers, campus staff, the school district, and the community.

Please make every effort to see that you child is in school daily.  If your child must be absent, you must notify the school by calling on the day of the absence, and, upon your child returning to school, submitting a written excuse signed by the parent (include the student's name, the reason for the absence and the date(s) of the absence). A parent's written excuse must be turned in within 5 days of the date of the absence. Furthermore, if your child's absence exceeds 3 consecutive days because of a personal illness, a doctor's note will be required in order to excuse the absences. VISD offers a Digital Student Absence Form in the VISD>Contact Us section. Instructions for Digital Absence Notification Form can be found in the Parent section of the Howell MS website.

If I can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me by telephone at 361-578-1561 or by email at lucy.sanchez@visd.net.

Compulsory Attendance Requirements

The Texas Education Code (TEC 25.085, 25.086, 25.087, 25.093, 25.095) specifically states that it is the parent's duty to monitor and require student attendance and further states that if a student is absent without acceptable excuse on three or more days or parts of days within a four week period, then the school district must notify the parent and create a Truancy Prevention Plan on behalf of the student.  Each day your child remains out of school after you have been notified and warned of an attendance problem may constitute an offense.  If your child's absences violates the state's compulsory attendance laws (unexcused absences on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same year), the School District may file a complaint in a justice or municipal court which could result in a fine.