By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A preliminary report from the St. Joseph School District showed a slight decrease in student attendance.
The report shows attendance dropped from a bit more than 78-percent to just above 77 percent, still well below the attendance goal of 90-percent.
Superintendent Gabe Edgar says while ideas bounce around to improve attendance, one thing that will continue is working with the Buchanan County Prosecutors Office.
"Right now, it's not showing a whole lot of progress, but I think that moving into the future this is just something that takes time, and fortunately we didn't go backwards," Edgar tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr.
Edgar says a bright spot on the report, however, was a 10-percent increase in the district’s graduation rate.
"Obviously that's the end goal for every kid, at the end of the day you want them to graduate from high school, and so we're very proud of that accomplishment," Edgar says.
Edgar says while there was a focus on students in that graduation age, internal discussions continue of how the district should move forward
"My philosophical belief is that our interventions need to come way early, the interventions need to start in the kindergarten, the first grade, the second grade," Edgar explains. "I'm not saying we need to not pay attention to what's going on in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh, but we really need to build that relationship early to help, not only the students, but also the parents understand the value of education."
The final, official report is expected sometime in October.
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