Annually, that increase would mean additional $1.5 Million for Austin ISD from those schools alone.

KXAN-TV News in Austin did an in-depth investigation into the program and spoke with Austin ISD officials, students on the program, and parents of students enrolled.

“I’m glad AISD did this,” said Bertha Cherry, the Dropout Prevention Specialist at Akins High School which has over 200 students currently receiving mentoring services.
One parent whose child is enrolled in the program told KXAN, “I’m glad they picked her (to participate) because it’s definitely helped her a whole lot.”

Watch the full investigative report from KXAN here:

Copyright: Austin American-Statesman

January 3, 2013 - The Austin American-Statesman recently took an in-depth look at Austin ISD’s use of the AimTruancy program in nine of it’s high schools.

“It’s very helpful,” one student enrolled in the program told the newspaper. “At the beginning of the school year, I messed up a lot, and I skipped. I decided to take the second chance they were giving me and be in the program. Ever since I’ve been in that program, it made me focus more on my classes.”

“If our students don’t attend, they can’t get the instruction they need from their classes,” Crystal Bernard, the district’s administrator supervisor for high school programs told the paper. “It’s marrying the technology that our students are already comfortable with, to get them excited about coming to and attending school.”

The article added that increasing attendance in Central Texas by as little as 2% would increase district income by $34 million.

For the full article, please visit the Austin American-Statesmen.

“We were looking for something innovative, unique — something that we hadn’t done before,” said Lisa Goodnow, former Interim Director of High Schools for the Austin Independent School District while speaking to KXAN-Austin News.

Average attendance for kids in the pilot program at Eastside Memorial jumped from 78 percent to 90 percent, and twelve out of thirteen seniors in program graduated.

“It’s hard to say for sure the students wouldn’t have made it, but I think that we’re beginning to see results that suggest that it was a critical component,” said Goodnow.

Source: KXAN News

“I think it’s been a huge success.”Munoz told local news station ABC40, “We’ve had a lot of students written letters and parents sending thank you notes.”

“The truancy program not only serves as a tracking device, but more of a mentoring system.” Munoz continued, “They have coaches, mentors that talk to the students.”

Aim’s dropout prevention and truancy reduction program currently serves hundreds of high schools across Texas and the United States.

“We listen to what’s going on in their life and we start leading them to what is ultimately much more decisions, much better quality of life,” AimTruancy CEO Travis Knox told ABC40, “but it all starts with education and education starts with getting to school on time.”

Students and their parents can face steep fines, community service, and be required to pay court costs on each of these cases.

It’s the district’s goal to keep kids out of the courtroom and in the classroom, and has now partnered with AimTruancy Solutions to increase attendance.

Aim’s approach combines one-on-one mentoring and the responsibility of carrying a GPS location verification device to help students get back on track to graduate.

Several local news stations covered the new partnership, and below is a clip from News Center 23.

“Keeping students in school though high school graduation is critical to their future success and to the success of our country,” said Illinois Governor Pat Quinn when welcoming the participants to the 2011 Dropout Prevention conference.

AimTruancy Solutions will be on hand to answer questions about the approach that continues to help districts across the United States increase school attendance and achievement.

“When truants become graduates, they break the dropout-to-prison cycle,” says Travis Knox, president of AimTruancy Solutions. “Truancy is the first step to dropping out, and dropping out often leads to joblessness, welfare, crime, and prison – the costs to society are staggering.”

The new bill amends the Texas Education Code and requires school districts adopt truancy prevention measures prior to referring and filing a truancy case with the courts.

According to the new legislation, the truancy programs must be designed to “address student conduct related to truancy in the school setting,” and “minimize the need for referrals to juvenile court” or “justice court alleging truancy,” among other filing requirements.

Aim’s current clients are likely already in full compliance with the new requirements under this specific part of the new law.

For more information on the specifics of the law, visit Aim’s 1489 Compliance Section.

The bill, which still needs to be signed into law by Texas Governor Rick Perry, requires school districts to address truancy at the school level in order to minimize the need for referrals to juvenile courts. Also, the new amendments will require that all truancy referrals in Texas be accompanied by documentation of the district’s effort to correct the behavior.

“We have several, well established and proven programs that keep kids in school and out of the courtroom,” says Travis Knox, President of Aim Truancy Solutions, which has offered truancy intervention programs since 2005. Knox also noted that most of Aim’s current clients are likely already in full compliance with the new truancy prevention measures, referral, and filing requirements.

If Governor Perry signs the bill, the new truancy laws will go into effect on September 1, 2011.

For more information, visit Aim’s SB 1489 Compliance Section.

DISD is now utilizing Aim Truancy Solutions to get kids back on track to graduate using coaching and mentoring strategies along with high-tech devices.

Below is WFAA-TV Dallas’s coverage of how Dallas ISD is integrating Aim into it’s truancy intervention and dropout prevention programs:

Source: WFAA.com

Part Two: Tonight at 5 p.m., Shelly Slater of WFAA-Dallas will take viewers inside Cary Middle School, which is one of the schools in the DISD pilot program.

Credit: WFAA-Dallas