“Our system for documenting absences was very antiquated,” says Darrell Muncy, former Director of Campus Support Services at Denton ISD, who just recently retired after 31 years. “Our director of technology contacted Saleem and said, “Hey, we need to re-do things, so if you could meet with Darrell Muncy and his attendance team, and come up with a solution, then that would be a great thing for us to have.” 

“When Saleem got involved in it, he started seeing our process and what we did. He took it to the next level and, without a doubt, he came up with a whole system that did everything that we did as a school district. He implemented it via technology. Basically, it simplified things so much that we think it had a drastic effect on our attendance.” 

“He kept making tweaks to it. Then he came up with what I refer to as the Cadillac version. I mean it had all the bells and whistles. 

It immediately contacted the assistant principal or the attendance liaison, or the attendance officer that student A was having a problem with attendance; and they’ve already met the minimum number allowed by the state. 

It expedites the ability to intercept those kids that are creating a pattern much more expeditiously. Where it used to be we’d have to sit down with a pencil and a piece of paper and count how many absences; and … whether this was verified or … It’s just an incredible thing that he created. That’s … He came to us. It was a blessing that he came to us.” 

A Return to the Real Focus 

“As a former administrator, I started out as an assistant principal. When you’ve got 600 ninth graders, you’re in charge of every one of them. You got fights breaking out. You got kids skipping class. You got angry parents. You got kids fighting and just all kinds of things. They also expect you to go into every classroom and observe teachers. 

“The amount of time that it saved our assistant principals, our attendance liaisons, our administers; they now can focus on the things that actually they need to be doing such as running the school. 

“The time saved allowed them to be much more effective educational leaders. They get to go into the classrooms more, it’s just a very time conscious. It’s a great program.”