Buffalo Public Schools parents are being urged to make sure they send their children to school. Calls were made from the United Way headquarters on Delaware Avenue Monday where a phone bank was set up.
Peter Jankowski, a city school attendance teacher, was calling the homes of students with some of the highest absentee rates.
"It's imperative that we get that message across to parents and students, that we will work with them, and get the kids into the building, because the studies that we have done in Buffalo actually show that the students with poor attendance usually have poor grades. And we don't want the children to become educational failures. We want them to succeed," said Jankowski.
Associate Superintendent Will Keresztes said they are targeting the homes of students who have been chronically and severely absent the past school year.
"We find that if we can make certain things just a little bit easier for parents, they will have a greater chance of having success of getting their kids in school. One of the purposes of these phone call is to identify families that have had some attendance challenges and see if there is any support we can offer," said Keresztes.
Buffalo School board member Barbara Seals Nevergold was making calls to parents this morning. She says performance is linked directly to attendance.
"The more the child is absent, of course, the more the possibility their grades slip, and that they will not be successful academically. So we are encouraging those parents of students who have missed ten percent or more during the year, last year, to focus in on attendance," said Nevergold.
The new school year for Buffalo Public Schools begins September 5. Next week, the school will blast out wake up calls for students and families.