The St. Joseph School District is touting a new campaign surrounding attendance called, “Strive for 5.”

Superintendent Dr. Robert Newhart said attendance rates in the district are an issue.

“We see good attendance at the elementary level and then it start to wane at the middle school but our high schools have got to step up to the plate,” Newhart said. “The attendance policy that has changed this year is that there will be a loss of credit for students that miss more than eight days during a semester.” (This quote has been corrected.  The SJSD said it is actually eight days not 10 as what was said in the original interview by mistake.)

Bridget Blevins, Director of Communications with the district said a campaign to combat low attendance is launching Monday encouraging students to strive for less than five days absent.

“One of the things that we’re doing this year is rolling out a new attendance campaign and it’s called Strive For 5,” Blevins said. “It’s going to be a marketing campaign to encourage students throughout the school year.”

The first day of school for the St. Joseph School District is Wednesday.