Webster Parish Schools is putting a competitive twist on improving student attendance this year, pitting schools against one another in monthly tournaments for the right to claim a championship belt.
Assistant Superintendent Andre Washington said the district launched the “Attend Like a Champion” challenge as part of a broader effort to emphasize the importance of students being at school, on time, and remaining in class throughout the day. The effort coincides with Attendance Awareness Month in September.
Each week, schools compete based on their attendance percentages, with winners advancing through a tournament bracket. Thirteen schools are participating, meaning elementary, middle, and high schools can find themselves competing against one another.
“So you have a high school going against elementary, but hey, you know, everybody has to show up,” Washington said.
The winner of each monthly tournament receives the Webster Parish “Attend Like a Champion” wrestling-style championship belt, which the school will keep and display for the following month. Minden Police Chief Jared McIver sponsored the belt for the district. The September winner is also expected to be recognized at the Webster Parish School Board’s October meeting.
Schools have also developed their own incentives to encourage students to attend. Washington said those efforts range from gift cards and dress-down days to popsicles, extra recess, and classroom competitions. Some elementary schools are using a Mr. Potato Head challenge in which classes earning 100% attendance add a piece to the character until they complete it and earn a reward.
The district’s emphasis is not limited to full-day absences. Washington said schools are also focusing on tardiness and early checkouts because both result in students missing classroom instruction.
“Even if it’s an early check out, we’re still missing instruction,” Washington said. “And that’s important for maintaining and getting curriculum instruction each and every day.”
Attendance rates have generally been strong early in the school year. Washington said all district schools were above 90% for September at the time of the September 11 interview, with three schools at approximately 96%. The districtwide attendance rate stood at about 93% for September and approximately 95% to 96% for August.
Washington said the district has seen improvement in recent years. Attendance was approximately 87% three years ago, followed by 88% the next year and about 91% last school year, according to figures he reviewed during the interview. The district’s goal this year is to improve attendance by another 2%.
Beyond the competition, school officials are trying to help families understand the difference between truancy and chronic absenteeism.
Under information provided by the district to parents during registration, a student is considered habitually truant after five or more unexcused absences or late-to-school occurrences during a school year. Chronic absenteeism, meanwhile, occurs when a student misses 10% or more of the days in which the student is enrolled and includes excused and unexcused absences, suspensions, and expulsions.
That distinction is important because an absence can affect a student’s education even when it is excused.
Washington said the district begins reaching out to families before a student reaches the truancy threshold. Schools generally begin making contact around the third unexcused absence, looking for patterns and attempting to determine whether barriers are keeping the student out of school. All district schools have attendance teams this year, while three attendance improvement specialists serve students across grade levels.
Washington said illness is among the most common causes of absences among elementary students, while tardiness becomes a greater concern among older students. The district is working to better identify individual barriers, including transportation problems and students routinely waking up late, so schools can develop plans for individual students.
The emphasis, Washington said, is on resolving attendance problems before they reach the point of formal truancy proceedings.
“We try to do our best to meet with our parents at three unexcused absences,” Washington said.
Those contacts may include face-to-face meetings or phone conversations and can result in attendance agreements with families. If a student reaches five unexcused absences, however, the district is required to take additional steps under Louisiana law.
Parents also received an “Attendance Matters” form in their registration packets this year outlining their responsibilities under state law, explaining attendance requirements, and providing contact information for district attendance personnel. Parents were asked to sign the form acknowledging that they had read and understood the information.
When a student does have to miss school, Washington encourages parents to communicate with the school and provide documentation. The district’s information instructs families to submit a doctor’s excuse or parent note within five days of the student’s return, with the dates of the absence clearly identified.
Washington stressed that completing makeup work cannot fully replace what happens while a student is physically in the classroom.
“Make up work is not the same as getting that one-on-one from that teacher,” Washington said. “Because you’re not, you won’t get to ask questions about things you don’t understand”
District information provided to parents states that missing two days per month can add up to nearly a month of missed education over a school year. It also notes that students who regularly miss two or more days per month often have lower reading and math scores and may be more likely to need to repeat a grade.
Washington said the goal behind the championship belt, school incentives, parent outreach, and attendance teams is ultimately the same: keeping students in school rather than dealing with truancy after attendance has already become a serious problem.
At the end of the school year, Washington said the district plans to expand the championship concept, awarding separate belts recognizing elementary, middle, and high school attendance champions. Until then, all 13 schools will continue facing one another in the monthly competition.