Birmingham Gives $16,000 to Families With Perfect School Attendance

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Birmingham, which recently has seen high rates of absenteeism in the city school district, started a program in January to encourage more families in public housing to get children into classrooms. Each month, students with perfect attendance are entered into a monthly Every Day Counts drawing where one qualified household is chosen from each of the housing authority’s 13 eligible properties.

The awards, $300 toward the households’ rent, are sponsored by community partners and coordinated by the City of Birmingham, Birmingham City Schools and the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District.

Officials say the program is improving school attendance. And with the district’s first day of school quickly approaching on Aug. 5, they’re going to keep drawing names through the 2024-25 school year.

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Birmingham City Schools faces a high rate of chronic absenteeism; last year, local officials sounded alarms about the amount of students missing school.

About 23% of local students were chronically absent in 2022-23, higher than the statewide rate of 18%, according to the most recent information available. Many districts have seen increasing rates of absenteeism since the pandemic.

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At the first Every Day Counts drawing in January, there were only 2 qualified households in the drawing. In February, there were 135 qualified households, 155 in March, 210 in April and 196 in May, according housing authority officials.

So far, officials have awarded 53 families a total of $16,000.

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