Jamie Burt is the Director of Students Services, Department of Accountability & Compliance, at 55,000- student Pasadena Independent School District in Pasadena, Texas. Asked about chronic absenteeism and truancy prevention and what technology has helped her to easily implement best practices, Jamie offers: “Definitely RaaWee’s Truancy and Dropout Prevention System (TDPS).” And just how has it helped, specifically? “The ability to work with our SIS to upload on a nightly basis the absences students accumulate,” she explains. The real difference that she has seen using the RaaWee K12 solution is in its simplicity and true helpfulness: “Three day warning letters are automatically generated and the multitude of reports are awesome!” says Jamie.

Incredible Results

Having access to real-time data for interventions management and attendance tracking is truly helpful in implementing strategies against chronic absenteeism and truancy prevention, especially in a large district. But have they really recently seen an improvement in Average Daily Attendance close to 1% and reduced chronic absenteeism by more than 20%? Is that even correct? “Yes,” says Jamie, explaining the true value and benefits of using such a system: “Real-time data and the fact that [CEO] Saleem [Qazi] has worked with us and met every need of our district—expanded the number of users for a particular feature and has adapted/ created many reports based on our needs,” she adds. The advantages and real benefits to using a solution solely dedicated to truancy and dropout prevention do not go unnoticed. Jamie describes them as such: “The real-time data is a game changer—and the ability to track the interventions provided.” But the real difference comes in the ease the system provides, especially compared to how it used to be: “Before,” says Jamie, “we had to work with our programmers to self-create everything we needed for truancy prevention.” 

‘Go for it!’ 

Jamie’s advice for a district leader in similar shoes, grappling with what to do regarding issues of chronic absenteeism and truancy, and worse—dropouts? She had this to say regarding selection and use of the RaaWee K12 Solution: “Go for it! Saleem and RaaWee exceeds expectations in customer service! TDPS is a real time saver, thanks to its ability to work with our SIS and provide the real-time data,” she adds. “The action boards of TDPS has made it much easier for all campus stakeholders, since they can easily identify which students need attention in the attendance area,” says Jamie. “Working with Saleem has been an awesome experience,” she emphasizes. “It is refreshing to work with a technology vendor that will truly listen to your needs and meet your expectations. He is genuinely kind and makes you feel like he truly is concerned with your success.”