Simi Valley : Incentives Offered to Attend Schools

In an effort to boost attendance, the Simi Valley Unified School District will give financial rewards to schools where students’ attendance rates improve and to teachers with one absence or less.

Board members agreed to the proposals Tuesday and are expected to vote on the two programs at their next meeting on Sept. 15. The district’s attendance rate is already high, averaging 95.4% at the 19 elementary schools and 93.8% at the six junior high and high schools.

But district officials said they want to encourage school administrators to work with students to reduce student absenteeism even further.

To receive the financial awards, schools whose attendance rates improved in the 1991-92 school year only have to maintain at least the same rates and reduce the number of unexcused absences by students.

Those schools whose attendance rates fell or remained the same last year would have to both improve student attendance and reduce absences to earn the reward.

The awards are $1,000 to each school that qualifies plus $4 for every enrolled student, which will amount to between $2,000 to $9,100 per school depending on the school’s size. The program will cost the district up to $100,000 per year, which will be paid with funds the district gets from leasing out property it owns.

The board also agreed to a proposal that would give teachers three days’ extra pay if they have no absences for illness or personal reasons and one day extra pay if they take only one day off for sickness or personal reasons.

The teachers will still be allowed a limited number of days off for school business, such as training workshops.

The program will cost the district about $700 to $750 for each employee who wins three days of extra pay.