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Quarter of a Million Students Absent
the First Day of School

(San Antonio)            According to a recent report issued today by Texans for a Traditional School Year, approximately 250,000 school children were not in school on the first day of the school year last year.  According to the statewide coalition the problem is a phenomenon statewide.

According to Tina Bruno spokesperson for the group, poor attendance not only negatively impacts the learning curve of the students, but also reduces the amount of money the school district receives in state funding.

“Poor attendance effects a districts total revenue,” said Gary Price a research analyst for the Office of the Comptroller.

“At the beginning of the school year we received many phone calls from teachers telling us that absenteeism the first week or so of school was getting worse as school started earlier each year,” said Bruno. “We knew the absenteeism was great among migrant students, but we needed to see if it was a problem across the state.”

“Because we were unable to obtain historical data regarding the attendance trend, I can not say with certainty that starting school later would eliminate all the late comers,” said Bruno.  “San Antonio Independent School District started school a week later this year and their absentee rate dropped by two percent.”

Based on the data collected, the statewide absentee rate for the first day of school was 5.53 percent.  The group then multiplied that percentage by the total number of students enrolled in public schools and determined the approximate number of students absent across the state.

Missing the beginning portion of the school year is more detrimental to migrant students than missing the last portion of the year, according to a report issued by TEA to Senator Eddie Lucio, (D) Brownsville.  “Of course missing the first few weeks of school is more difficult than ending the year early,” said teacher.  “The students are always playing catch-up.” 

Disputing the notion that absenteeism the first days of school is strictly a problem in highly migrant areas, the report showed half of the educational regions in Texas had school districts with more than 10 percent of its students absent the first day of school. 

Bruno said their research doesn’t show the same problem from September 1^st verses October 1^st.  She added that the number difference in attendance was too small to mention; less than one quarter of a percent.

Toping the charts with over 30 percent of the student body being absent on the first day or more of school are Ingram Independent School District and Dickinson Independent School District and Hildalgo ISD.

Houston ISD reported 17.5 percent absent with Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, Harelandale ISD, Brownsville ISD, Royal ISD and Levelland ISD all toping the charts with more than 10 percent of the student body absent the first day or more of school.

The region with the greatest percentage of students not in school in early August was Region 1, representing Brownsville, Hildago, Mission, Laredo and surrounding areas. Cummulative, the data shows that 13.15 percent of the students are not in school the first day.  “But our data also shows that this is not just a problem for highly migrant areas,” Bruno added.  “The greater Houston area, or Region 4 came in a close second with 9.55 percent of students not in attendance.”

The announcement was made today after the group tallied the data they received from school districts around the state.  Data was received from 356 of the 1,042 requests sent and represents 47 percent of the student body in Texas.   

The data showed that of the 356 school districts that submitted the requested information 118,230 students were absent the first day of school.  

The data was collected via public information requests to each school district, the group asked school districts to provide attendance numbers for the first day of school through October 1^st.  

Texans for a Traditional School Year is a grassroots, educational organization of parents, teachers, administrators and business leaders concerned about the negative impact of the early August school start date on students, teachers and families.  The group can be reached toll-free at 877-531-9011.