Why attending school every day matters
September is Attendance Awareness Month, and starting next week, HISD will be launching a multimedia campaign to share information with parents about the risks of chronic absenteeism.
We’re not talking about a day or two lost here and there because of illness. We’re talking about children who miss 10 percent or more of the total number of school days in any given year—a serious impediment to learning.
According to the Attendance Works advocacy organization, research shows that 5 million to 7.5 million students are missing nearly a month of school every year and that these absences – excused or unexcused – add up to academic trouble. Too many absences in the early grades can leave children unable to master reading by the end of third grade, a key indicator of school success. By middle and high school, chronic absence becomes a red flag that a student may not graduate from high school.
Visit the Attendance Matters website to learn more about why coming to school every day is so important, and check the HISD website regularly next month for updates. You can also visit HISD’s budget website to learn how district funding is affected by daily attendance rates (.pdf).
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