Pittsburg, CA — Pittsburg Unified School District (PUSD) is recognized as a 2016-17 Model School Attendance Review Board (SARB). Notification of this honor was emailed by the California Department of Education (CDE) to the school district, stating readers of the award application noted, “Your impressive prevention, early identification, and intervention strategies as well as your excellent inventory of community resources.”
“I am incredibly thankful for the time and commitment so many Pittsburg community members give in order to support our young people,” said Dr. Janet Schulze, Superintendent, Pittsburg Unified School District. “Dr. Frazier-Myers and the Student Services Team have done an outstanding job in creating a process that truly is there to support our students and families.”
Pittsburg Unified School District’s SARB program is aimed at helping students and parents receive resources needed to assist children with attending school on-time in a daily manner.
Through a community collaboration, the District has established a well-attended and supported SARB, focused on students succeeding. Comprised of dozens of members, the SARB includes Pittsburg business owners, Deputy District Attorney of Contra Costa County, ministers, an army sergeant, Pittsburg police officers, foster parents, after school coordinator, NAACP members, mentors, parent coordinators, school counselors, child welfare advocates, and many additional school district employees.
The SARB meets bi-weekly with parents and families, providing Spanish translation during outreach efforts and meetings. The SARB was created with a mindset to provide a culturally diverse team that resonates with the needs of the student population.
“It is an honor to receive this award on behalf of the District,” said Dr. ReJois Frazier-Myers, Director, Student Services, Pittsburg Unified School District. “This award belongs to all of the people the Student Services Department serves. We could not have received this honor without the support of the District and our community. All of our partners have come together to inspire our scholars to become global citizens and graduate with viable options to navigate successfully in our society. Countless hours have gone into our SARB efforts and we appreciate all of the hard work and dedication.”
The District-wide effort of promoting school attendance and why attendance matters is a priority at Pittsburg Unified School District. PUSD’s SARB meets annually to analyze areas for improvement, successes, and goals. Outcomes and data are shared regularly with school principals and it is a team effort to put interventions in place, to get students back on track with attendance. Prevention and early identification of attendance issues are also addressed at each elementary school site with a daily or weekly attendance board, indicating a progress report for school attendance. Contests and class recognition for school attendance are encouraged. In addition, each year, the District celebrates students with perfect attendance and honors families in a special recognition ceremony. PUSD is very honored and excited to be named as a Model SARB by the CDE.
Pittsburg Unified School District’s SARB program will be recognized at a luncheon for Model SARBs at the State Conference of the California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance (CASCWA) on April 19, 2017 in Tahoe City, California.
