Attendance matters to school districts for a couple of reasons. First, academic performance cannot be separated from student attendance. If students are not present, they miss the information that was presented that day. Secondly, school districts are funded based on attendance. We currently have a 97.31% attendance rate for the school district. Based on our K-12th grade enrollment (I have removed Pre-K because not all of these students are eligible for funding), if we were to increase our attendance rate to 98%, the difference in funding, at the end of the year, would be $34,000. A more realistic issue is if our attendance rate drops to 96% (from the current 97.31%), the District would lose an additional $68,000 in funding. Please make sure that student attendance is a priority as it will make a difference academically to the student, and financially to the District.
While the score showed that we lost the game Friday night, we have not lost any of our goals for the season. As much as it hurt to lose the game, ultimately, we have to consider whether or not we improved in spite of the loss. If we improved Friday, even coming up short on the scoreboard, then Friday night was a victory. I have full faith in the coaches and the boys that we are a better football team today than we were Friday.
It was an easy decision to donate the money back to Kenedi Friday evening. I was thrilled to receive a text message, during the game, from the superintendent of Panhandle ISD letting me know that they wanted to donate their money to Kenedi as well. That is exactly why I love living in this part of Texas.
We may be competitors on the field, but we support each other. Thank you to our friends from Panhandle for showing love and support to Kenedi and her family.
If you have not already done so, please mark your calendars for 1:00 on September 28th (Saturday). SISD will have a ceremony to celebrate the naming of the band hall after Mr. Hunsaker. I am thrilled that Mr. Hunsaker will be here on the 28th and I look forward to seeing him receive this well-deserved honor. Our featured speakers will be Dr. Charles Trayler and Mrs. Jasmin Rios. Mrs. Tina Keener will serve as the MC for the event. The ceremony will be held in the main gym at SHS.
The role of public school educators has changed over the years and the most obvious example is related to school safety. When I first started my career 32 years ago, there was not much emphasis put on this issue other than the regular fire drills that were required by the State. Through the years, the focus has increased and over the last 5 years it has become a major component of what happens during the instructional day. What used to be considered shocking and unthinkable is now too often reported on the nightly news. Thank you to our educators for making school safety a priority and thank you to our students and parents for partnering with us related to this issue.
Paul Uttley
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