Improving attendance among teachers and students in the Puerto Rico Department of Education

An assessment conducted by the Financial Control Commission showed that teachers’ attendance rates Department of Education (DE) An increase compared to previous years

Teacher attendance increased by more than 90% in 2024compared to 65% registered in 2021. The evaluation determined that in the 2023-24 school year, teachers, principals, counselors and principal supervisors met the important goal of recording attendance in the attendance system on 90% of school days.

Likewise, this shows that teachers successfully recorded student attendance in the PowerSchool information system for more than 90% of school days.

The 90 percent attendance requirement for educators and students is intended to increase oversight of the time teachers and students spend in the classroom.

The board listed the 30% difference in average attendance as “concerning,” despite the COVID-19 pandemic beginning at the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Likewise, they said that after the attendance rate improved, the fiscal entity released $86 million in DEPR funds, which were allocated by Office of Management and Budget (OGP).

It is understood that these funds will be used in part to pay for the government-approved salary increases for DEPR teachers and school principals for fiscal year 2022. With these funds, the Ministry of Education will be able to realign program funds Emergency Assistance for Primary and Secondary Schools (ESSER) Address other current FY 2025 agency needs (e.g., safety and maintenance costs) to better support DEPR’s operational needs.

The board stressed that only employees who report to work should be paid. The “time and attendance” item was proposed after it became known that for more than a decade, the Department of Education had not removed from the payroll multiple employees who were no longer on its payroll, nor properly accounted for vacation and sick leave when they were due. As a result, the agency spent at least $80 million over 13 years to employees who quit, retired, died or no longer work.

In addition, they say it has saved Puerto Rican taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. To date, the initiative has been implemented in 23 agencies, with another 26 in the works. More than 75,000 public employees have benefited from the program.