The Iberia Parish School Board approved the creation of a district attendance secretary job for the school district in an effort to reduce truancy and absenteeism in Iberia Parish schools.

The board unanimously approved the resolution for the new job, which Superintendent of Schools Heath Hulin said will exist for a period of two years.

“It’s my hope that in the next two years we’ve made significant gains and this job could go away,” Hulin said.

Since 2020, Hulin said the Iberia Parish School District has lost almost 1,000 students due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the truancy rates have doubled during the same time frame.

“I began an attendance task force and we’ve been meeting with folks across the district to meet enrollment and work with attendance officers and principals to track and reengagte students,” Hulin said.

The secretary position would help in the coordination and implementation of those efforts, and will be a contracted position. The job will also be funded through federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.

In other business, the board unanimously approved the implementation of a salary structure for JAG specialists engaged in the Jobs for America’s Graduates program.

The program, which started a decade ago to assist students experiencing barriers to success in school, is operated strictly through grants that are used to reimburse employees based on the attendance and participation of the program.

Hulin said JAG specialists have worked as hourly employees that are not eligible for sick leave.

“They are doing the same jobs as teachers on the campuses, and they are tracking students outside of the school day,” Hulin said.

Iberia Parish is one of the last parishes in the state not to offer a salary structure for JAG specialists, and after research Hulin said it was possible through state funding and ESSER funds to make the transition.

The JAG Model consists of a comprehensive set of services designed to keep young people in school through graduation and improve their success rates in education.

“We’ve gotten very good results from this program and it has been recognized on the national level,” Hulin said.