On September 3rd, leaders from throughout Central Texas – including AARO members Ashton Cumberbatch, Susan Dawson, Alex Gonzales, Bobby Jenkins, Ali Khataw, Earl Maxwell, and Jeffrey Richard – gathered on the Long Center Terrace to remind the community that school attendance is a priority every day.
“Our region has 2.4 million absences each year, which cost our schools districts about $91 million/year. But money is way less important than the impact on students and their achievement. In fact, a high schooler who misses 10 or more days is three times as likely to drop out as one who misses just 5 days,” said Bobby Jenkins, President – ABC Home & Commercial Services.
According to E3 Alliance, when a student misses one day of class, the school district loses about $40. But more importantly – when kids miss school, they miss out on chances to learn, socialize, gain confidence, and be inspired.
Mr. Jenkins challenged all Central Texans to do what they can to help improving student learning by increasing student attendance by 3 days per student per year. This would improve student achievement and return $34 million in annual revenue to Central Texas school districts.
“I didn’t calculate what $34 million would buy in terms of footballs,” Mr. Jenkins remarked to former UT football stars Case McCoy and Kasey Studdard who attended the rally, “but $34 million could hire 600 more teachers or outfit 17,000 science labs.”
Watch live KXAN coverage of the event here:
http://kxan.com/2014/09/04/e-3-alliance-issues-call-to-action-on-central-texas-school-attendance/.
