WACO, Texas — At a meeting on Friday, Jan. 26, Waco ISD board members said that district-wide attendance, as well as attendance across the state, is down.
District leaders during 2021 and 2022 saw a 17 percent jump in chronic absenteeism, with students missing ten or more days over the course of the school year.
"If a kid isn't there, you have somebody chasing them down wondering what's happened to this soul," said Johnathan Grant, District 4 board member.
In a presentation before the school board, district leaders learned that the largest amount of absences falls among high school students, specifically during late start days where they were told attendance sits around 68 to 70 percent.
"We don't have students who leave for no reason at the elementary level," said one speaker at the meeting. "They leave for homeschool or to another country or something like that, we don't have any that are gone for no reason."
From Oct. 1 through the rest of the school year, the district holds leaver meetings, an attempt to contact the students or families, understand the circumstances behind their lack of attendance and support them.
With a 22 percent mobility rate of students moving within the district, the fourth highest in the state, Waco ISD leaders said the retention of students within the district is attributed to the teachers.
Waco ISD provides flexible hours and night schooling to accommodate children and families, and though the absentee numbers remain high, graduation rates still sit around 84 percent as of 2022.
More local stories from 6 News: