Innovative strategies for reengagement are essential, especially when addressing at risk students facing chronic absenteeism. Implementing effective attendance interventions can significantly reduce truancy, while truancy mediation and prevention measures play a crucial role in supporting students to improve their attendance.
Across the country, school districts are facing growing pressure from chronic absenteeism, declining enrollment, increased competition for students, and changing family expectations.
In this environment, schools can no longer afford fragmented attendance systems or delayed intervention strategies.
Every Day Counts, Every Student Matters
Counted Present helps schools and communities build coordinated systems designed to improve student engagement, strengthen attendance, and reconnect young people before they disengage completely.
Our Vision:
Every student remains connected to education through systems that identify attendance barriers early, engage families collaboratively, and ensure that no child disappears from the education system without support.
Our Guiding Principles:
Founded by the architects of the nationally recognized Bexar County Uniform Truancy Program, Counted Present is a San Antonio-based non-profit organization dedicated to reducing chronic absenteeism, preventing dropouts, and reconnecting disengaged youth with education. Founded on the principle that children do not have truancy problems, they have problems that cause them to be truant. Counted Present addresses the root causes of absenteeism through early intervention, education, and family-centered support.
Key Initiatives Include
Schools with high absenteeism rates lose state funding, which limits their ability to provide resources, staff, and programs for all students.
Truancy and chronic absenteeism are among the earliest indicators of broader educational and social problems.
We emphasize early parent engagement beginning at the elementary school level. Attendance forums and outreach programs to educate families about compulsory attendance requirements, the direct link between attendance and academic success, and help to identify and address barriers before absenteeism patterns became entrenched.
Addressing attendance concerns early increases the likelihood that students will remain engaged throughout their educational careers.
Texas Education Code §25.0915 Requires schools to apply TPMs such as counseling, mediation, and community-based services before referring a student to court.
Structured Mediation Sessions:
All of our mediators have:
Remote Mediation is also available to enhance participation.
8-hour administrator training program.
This training is designed for district and campus leaders responsible for addressing chronic absenteeism and implementing effective Truancy Prevention Measures.
Working closely with schools and community stakeholders, our outreach efforts focus on locating students who have disengaged from school and reconnecting them with educational pathways. We believe that education is a collaborative effort between students, families, educators, and community based organizations
Counted Present’s Youth Legal Program is informed in part by the FLY (Fresh Lifelines for Youth) model developed in California. Adapted to support students and schools in Texas through practical legal literacy and life-skills education. Taught by attorneys,
A 12-week course for at-risk middle and high school students which addresses legal topics and life skills to reduce involvement in the justice system and support school success.
Counted Present seeks to assist schools to implement, improve, rebuild, and modernize truancy prevention infrastructure by integrating prevention, mediation, case management, and reengagement into a single framework that school districts can implement today.
Through coordinated attendance intervention strategies, schools can reduce chronic absenteeism, strengthen student and parent engagement, and ensure that fewer students fall through the cracks of the education system.
Senate Bill 991 was signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025
Students are considered "chronically absent" if they miss more than 10% of required instructional time during a school year, or during any enrollment period exceeding thirty instructional days.
The bill requires districts to collect and report more robust data, making it easier to identify where Truancy Prevention Measures (TPMs) are being underutilized or inconsistently applied. SB 991 requires expanded data reporting through PEIMS. Under SB 991, every school district and open-enrollment charter school must report via the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) the following, for each campus and grade level, and in disaggregated form:
SB 991 amends Section 29.081(d) of the Texas Education Code to broaden the definition of a "student at risk of dropping out." In addition to longstanding categories, the updated definition now explicitly includes:
(P) is a chronically absent student, as defined by Section 48.009; or
(Q) is required to attend school under Section 25.085, is not exempted under Section 25.086, and fails to attend school without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year.
Questions for your School District:
How We Can Help:
Developing a system-based truancy intervention and prevention approach tailored to each School District and Community’s unique needs, resources, and student populations.
The goal is not to check boxes. The goal is to improve attendance. Compliance should be the byproduct of an effective system.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about Counted Present Programsl, please contact us. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff are happy to assist you in any way we can.