Seventh to 12th grades at Bastrop Middle School, Cedar Creek Middle School, Bastrop High School, Cedar Creek High School, Genesis High School and Colorado River Collegiate Academy are monitored to determine the district's dropout rate.
By the numbers
In the 2023-24 school year, 16 students were registered as no shows and 21 students were deemed potential dropouts out of the total 6,137 students enrolled in the district. These numbers are an improvement from the 41 no-shows and 40 potential dropouts recorded the previous year.
“The primary benefit of finding a student is to ensure they are in school receiving a quality education so that they can learn and prepare for their future,” Deputy Superintendent Kristi Lee said in an email. “A student who finishes high school has more earning potential and more opportunities to do what they really want to do in life for themselves and their families.”
What's happening?
Attendance Officers Trisha Mutschink and Elias Garcia work in the field to locate dropout and no-show students. Mutschink said locating students is a team effort that requires help from registrars, social workers, the service center and others on school campuses.
“[The] effort involves traditional methods such as email and phone calls, but oftentimes it involves home visits or visits to family members to investigate further,” Lee said via email. “The entire goal is to make sure every student is in school receiving a high-quality education somewhere, even if not in Bastrop ISD.”
Garcia said locating students who move out of state can be more difficult. Many no-shows are students who move away and enroll in another Texas school district.
“We have a lot [of students] out of state that we have to communicate with that respective district,” Garcia said at the Sept. 19 meeting. “From out of state, it takes a little more work communicating with registrars in those respective districts.”
Of the 37 no-show and potential dropout students, attendance officers accounted for 24 students. The district has until Sept. 29 to continue efforts to locate students recorded as no-show or potential dropout.
