Victoria ISD is excited to announce the implementation of a new Attendance Improvement Initiative at Victoria East and West High Schools for the 2024-25 school year. This initiative aims to address chronic absenteeism and improve overall student attendance across the district.
Chronic absenteeism has been a significant challenge for VISD, with a district-wide chronic absenteeism rate of 25% during the 2023-24 school year. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, including excused, unexcused, and suspensions. Although VISD is seeing an increase in attendance rates, the district has not yet recovered to its pre-COVID attendance rate of over 94%.
Understanding Excused vs. Unexcused Absences
According to the Texas Education Code 25.087, certain absences are considered excused under state law. VISD adheres to the FEA (LEGAL) Policy, which outlines the statutory absences that are excused.
Unexcused absences do not meet state or district guidelines, including failure to supply necessary documentation and truant conduct. These absences negatively affect student eligibility for various school activities and academic standing.
Attendance Improvement Strategies
To combat district-wide chronic absenteeism, VISD has implemented the following strategies:
Attendance Incentives: Movie passes, prize drawings, class competitions, foam parties, AttenDANCE events, and more.
Student Activity Participation: Students must meet attendance requirements to participate in prom, Senior Activity Day, Senior Celebration Walks, and other activities.
Administrative Approval for Senior Year: Students need admin approval for senior year privileges.
Community Billboard Campaign: Raising awareness about the importance of attendance.
VISD Website Attendance Dashboard: Providing daily updates on attendance statistics.
Updated High School Exemption Regulation: Including attendance requirements for exemptions.
Pilot Programs at Victoria East and West High Schools
For the 2024-25 school year, Victoria East and West High Schools will each pilot a different approach to tackling chronic absenteeism. Both schools will have the following consistent components:
Admin Approval: Qualifying and keeping privileges require administrative approval and students must maintain 90% attendance to be eligible.
Student Notes Submission: Students have three days to submit notes for absences.
Campus Events: Students with more than three unexcused absences or who meet the loss of credit threshold (90% rule) may be excluded from campus events.
Athletics and Fine Arts Eligibility: More than three unexcused absences or meeting the loss of credit threshold (90% rule) may affect eligibility.
Principal Plan: A plan will be implemented after meeting the threshold, with the ability to appeal.
The specific components of each principal’s plan will differ between the two schools, focusing on how students can earn privileges back (e.g., hour-for-hour or perfect attendance plans) and how and when the appeal process is conducted.
Attendance information for each campus is currently being added and can be found by visiting https://vehs.visd.net/attendance or https://vwhs.visd.net/attendance.
VISD is committed to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed academically by reducing chronic absenteeism and encouraging regular school attendance. We look forward to the positive impact these initiatives will have on our students.