Attendance waivers analyzed by The Dallas Morning News show that many students stay home from school when there’s a perceived threat.
Attendance waivers analyzed by The Dallas Morning News show that many students stay home from school when there’s a perceived threatOne Monday last fall, only about half of Cleburne students showed up to class.
The reason for such low attendance? Families were fearful after threats of violence against Cleburne ISD campuses had zoomed across Snapchat in the days before.requested all safety-related “low attendance waivers” submitted to the Texas Education Agency during roughly the first six months of school.examined about 50 attendance waivers related to safety threats at traditional public and charter schools. Administrators can submit waivers for this academic year through the end of July, so the number will likely grow through the summer.Though the sample is small – Texas is home to more than 1,000 school districts – the data underscores how disruptive the spread of online threats against schools can be. Among the other North Texas districts that filed waivers were Grand Prairie, Cedar Hill and Lewisville. Public schools often seek such waivers if their daily attendance rate falls at least 10 percentage points below the previous year’s average. That was the case Sept. 16 when 52% of Cleburne’s nearly 7,000 students came to school, according to district data. On a regular day, more than 92% of those students show up to class.Krementz told her youngest daughter, who is 11, “Tomorrow you’re not going to go to school because Mommy wants you safe.”In Lewisville ISD, school administrators say that once a threat gains traction online, it can trigger copycat incidents. “What may start as an isolated threat in one state can quickly be replicated elsewhere, amplified by digital platforms and the ease of information sharing,” according to a statement shared by district spokeswoman Samantha FitzPatrick. Many districts and police officials have taken a zero-tolerance stance against people who make such threats – whether or not it’s deemed credible.Texas funds public schools based on average daily attendance. So when many students stay home, it can trigger a financial hit.When children are out of class, they also fall behind in learning. The state has already seen a spike in missed school days in the years since the pandemic. One in five Texas students was considered chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year. In Cleburne, Kirkpatrick said safety is the district’s No. 1 priority, and officials have detailed plans in place to protect their community. “If parents choose to keep their kids home, and they feel that’s the best choice for them, you know, we just drop back and punt the next day and come back and catch those kiddos up,” he said. School leaders often communicate with parents about the threats, including to emphasize when they appear unfounded. On the evening of Sept. 19, the principal at Lewisville’s Huffines Middle School emailed families about rumors spreading online about campus safety.“I want to be very clear that through our investigation of the rumors, we found no evidence of a threat to the campus,” Principal Bradley Willi wrote. Willi told parents the district would put in place additional security measures “out of an abundance of caution.” Still, many families were frightened. Only about 70% of Huffines students came to class the next day, according to Lewisville ISD’s attendance waiver submission.“LPD will take a zero-tolerance stance when it comes to any activity that disrupts students’ ability to learn or places them in fear,” police officials wrote in a news release about the arrest. While school threats can affect attendance the day after an investigation or incident, Lewisville officials say they typically don’t have a long-term impact. LISD’s attendance rate is usually above 93%.In Cleburne, Krementz’s 15-year-old daughter grappled with anxiety after learning of the Snapchat threat. A few weeks later, Krementz decided to homeschool her. The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas. The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.Talia is a reporter for The Dallas Morning News Education Lab. A Dallas native, she attended Richardson High School and graduated from the University of Maryland. She previously covered schools and City Hall for The Baltimore Sun.
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