Attendance Is Focus Of DPS Enrollment Drive
DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit Public Schools are working to increase enrollment when school starts, and they want to make going to school mandatory.
The theme for this year's Detroit Public School's enrollment campaign is "First Day, Every Day -- All Day", referring to the district's push to improve attendance.
DPS Emergency Manager Roy Roberts said it's vital that kids show up on that first day of school this fall, September 6th.
"It's habit-forming. We want kids to know that they have a responsibility and obligation to go to school every day," said Roberts. "And, also, we're paid by the state government for students being in school that first ten days."
Why has it taken until now to focus on this fundamental problem in DPS?
"I don't know why anyone with a modicum of intellect wouldn't see that as a major problem," said Roberts. "If our kids are starting from behind, and we wanna catch up, then clearly they've got to be in school every day," he said, adding that high school students typically miss 45 days of school a year.
Roberts, on the job for a new months now, spoke with WWJ Newsradio 950's Marie Osborne about how things are going so far.
"We're starting to see a cultural change. We're starting to see people who are saying that mediocrity is not accepted; we have to be the best that we can be; we gotta get parents, teachers and everybody in that same mode, and I'm starting to build that," he said.
Roberts said this year's target enrollment for the district is more than 64,000 students.
