Coming to a theater near you
– before-the-movie advertisements aimed at increasing attendance
at local schools.
School districts across the county are looking for ways to get
the word out about the importance of attending school every day.
One idea is to show an advertisement at local movie theaters aimed
at high school students as well as elementary school parents, said
Jean Burns Slater, superintendent at the San Benito High School
District.
Coming to a theater near you – before-the-movie advertisements aimed at increasing attendance at local schools.
School districts across the county are looking for ways to get the word out about the importance of attending school every day. One idea is to show an advertisement at local movie theaters aimed at high school students as well as elementary school parents, said Jean Burns Slater, superintendent at the San Benito High School District.
“The most important factor (of a student’s success) is attendance,” Slater said.
The move comes as schools are struggling to squeeze as much revenue into their budgets as possible. The more students there are at school each day, the more money schools get from the state – in the form of Average Daily Attendance revenue.
The educators argue that students also benefit from going to school.
“Missing school doesn’t help the child. It’s very difficult to catch up,” said Peter Gutierrez, assistant superintendent at the Hollister School District.
Every day a child misses, it takes two days for them to catch up, according to Jackie Munoz, superintendent of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District.
“Every day a child misses, it’s like missing two days. It takes time to catch up and they get behind,” Munoz said.
In addition to missing the work, students miss out on interaction with their teachers and classmates.
“The make-up work is not the same. It’s not the same lesson plan (students would get in class). There’s no dialogue,” Slater said.
School districts plan on working with parents to increase attendance. At the ASJUSD, a secretary calls parents when a student misses school to touch base and see when they plan on coming back to school, Munoz said.
