Austin Mayor Steve Adler (third from left) invites Central Texas school superintendents to speak with him at the annual Regional Attendance Rally, hosted by E3 Alliance, on Wednesday.[/caption]In Central Texas, there are about 2.4 million student absences per year, many of which could have been preventable with routine medical or dental checkups, according to the Central Texas education nonprofit E3 Alliance.
On Wednesday, E3 Alliance hosted its fourth annual Regional Attendance Rally at the Long Center for the Performing Arts terrace in downtown Austin. In attendance were multiple Central Texas school district superintendents and Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who spoke about the educational and financial impacts of student absenteeism.
"When students miss school, not only do they fall behind, it makes it harder for the teacher and the classroom," Adler said. "But real significantly, the absenteeism in our schools here in Central Texas costs us about $91 million per year. If we could improve those rates just by three days per student, we could get an additional $34 million into our school districts."
It was also revealed at the rally that if a child misses 10 days of school, he or she is three times more likely to drop out than a child who has missed five days, according to E3 Alliance.
At the rally, E3 Alliance handed out a parent guide to student attendance, which listed five tips to prevent a child from missing school:
- Students can prevent the spread of illness to other students by being up-to-date on immunizations, getting a flu vaccine and staying home for at least 24 hours if flu-like symptoms are present.
- Scheduling medical appointments early in the morning, late in the afternoon or on a Saturday is least disruptive to school.
- If a child at school calls or texts his or her parent or guardian because of symptoms, contact the school nurse first.
- If a child is being bullied or scared to go to school, contact the school counselor or assistant principal for help.
- If a child is missing school to travel, or he or she is not sick but staying home, then the child is missing learning time and costing the school about $40 per day.
