GILROY
– In an effort to cover budget gaps and brace for possible state
funding cuts next month, Gilroy Unified School District is pushing
to increase attendance by more than 1 percent districtwide.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – In an effort to cover budget gaps and brace for possible state funding cuts next month, Gilroy Unified School District is pushing to increase attendance by more than 1 percent districtwide.
Local schools will begin a campaign to emphasize attendance, sending mailers to parents stressing the importance of daily attendance, and enforcing consequences for excessive absences, both unexcused and excused.
“Attendance is our biggest source of funding,” said Frank Valadez, district attendance officer.
In California, the majority of school districts’ income is based on average daily attendance. The state funds districts based on how many students are actually in the classroom the 180 days of the school year.
GUSD will receive $4,644 per student this year, close to $45 million total. That money pays for district employees’ salaries and benefits, books, supplies and operating expenses.
Valadez is meeting with administrators or attendance personnel from each school to go over specific attendance numbers.
“Our attendance is slightly better each year,” said Valadez.
But he sees definite room for improvement. He has wanted to start an attendance campaign since becoming attendance officer four years ago, he said.
“We have target goals for each school, which vary from school to school,” he said. “We hope to bring in a whole lot of money.”
The districtwide target is to improve attendance an average of more than 1 percent. The district will see the results of its attendance push in April, when the state calculates attendance rates. For elementary schools, that would mean at least 96 percent of students are in their seats each morning and at least 95 percent of Gilroy High School students would need to be present.
Rucker Elementary School has the smallest target improvement of .32 percent, while other schools, like Glen View Elementary and Gilroy High School, must improve nearly 2 percent.
The state will pay GUSD roughly $500,000 for a 1 percent improvement in the district’s attendance rate.
The district is trying to meet a $523,000 budget deficit that could be as large as $3 million in three years.
“I think the target goals that we have are doable, I think they’re realistic,” Valadez said. “I’m hoping that (schools) will be more aggressive and go beyond their target goal.”
Valadez has a personal goal to improve district attendance by 2 percent, increasing GUSD’s revenue by $1 million.
“I definitely support it because I think it’s important for kids to be in school every day,” school board Trustee Jim Rogers said. “It’s an informational thing: Don’t miss school because you’re going to miss out and the school district is going to lose money.”
School administrators and district officials will motivate students and parents to improve attendance by spreading their message through school newsletters. Starting Friday, an attendance ad will run at Platinum Theaters, at 6851 Monterey Road. The theater gave GUSD a discount price of $200 for the ad because it is a public service announcement, Valadez said. The ad will run indefinitely.
The Dispatch will publish a list of Gilroy students who had perfect attendance this semester. The list will run in the first two weeks of February.
But the effort is also a labor of love, as Valadez and Rogers point out that consistent, regular attendance will benefit students in both the short and long run.
“I’ve been a counselor (with GUSD) for 25 years, so people should know where my heart is,” Valadez said. “I know the best place for kids is school.”
Truancy, or repeat absences, is often a gateway offense for more serious crime, Valadez said. Truancy is often linked to juvenile crime, drug use, teenage pregnancy and graffiti.
“Frankly, it’s a money thing, but I think it’s important for kids to be in school every day,” Rogers said.
Valadez said he hopes that more schools will use the resources available to prevent absences, such as sending students before the district’s School Attendance Review Board, which meets twice each month.
At GHS, the effort to improve attendance and prevent truancy is a constant battle.
“We try to improve attendance every month,” said Mani Corzo, assistant principal in charge of discipline. “It’s a constant problem, it’s been going on many years.”
Parents are automatically called when a student is tardy or absent from one or more periods. Letters are sent home after three, six and eight unexcused absences, warning parents that their child can be declared a truant and taken before the attendance review board.
With Corzo’s support, Valadez organized a board just for high school students.
GHS sends between eight and 10 students before the board every month, Corzo said. The student must enter into a legally binding contract stating that he or she must attend school all day, every day.
“It works for most of them,” Corzo said. “It’s very tough in that, if the kid misses one period, we could take the kid to the district attorney.”
Driving the attendance message home may take money to make money.
“It costs a lot of money to send out letters,” Corzo said.
