SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) is off to a fairly smooth start, and teachers say the updated cell phone policy has been a game changer, even after just a few weeks. LTUSD Assistant to the Superintendent Teresa Schow said the school sites say the policies are working “really well, resulting in reduced distractions and an increase in student learning.”

One teacher said she was enjoying the classroom with students interacting with each other, and paying attention to the subject together.

When the first school bell rang on August 26, more transitional- and pre-kindergarten students showed up at Tahoe Valley Elementary than the school had planned for, causing some disruption at the beginning of the year. LTUSD Superintendent Dr. Todd Cutler said there was room in the classroom for those ages at Bijou, and he was open to opening one at Meyers where they had staff available. Tahoe Valley administration wanted to try and make it work without the kids going to other schools.

“Things seem to have smoothed out and no students were moved,” said Schow.

During the last LTUSD board meeting, the trustees were provided a comparison of the last three years of enrollment and average daily attendance at LTUSD schools. Overall enrollment this school year has decreased from 3633 students to 3573 students, and enrollment at STHS has remained virtually unchanged over that time period.

So far this school year, the average daily attendance (ADA) is 3,381.54 students in LTUSD, and last year at this time the ADA was 3407.15. During the 2023-24 school year, chronic absenteeism was rampant across the country, and it is still too early to tell for this school year. The country had an average of 90 percent of a study body in the classroom each day.

So far, the ADA of LTUSD students is up slightly over last year.

In LTUSD, the attendance rate at each school last year after five weeks of school, and this year after the same period:

Mt. Tallac – 64.05 ADA 100% last year, 49.32 ADA 100% this year
South Tahoe Middle School – 720.11 ADA 93.87% last year, 677.79 ADA 94.12 % this year
Bijou – 407.16 ADA 95.67% last year, 404.16 ADA 95.76% this year
Meyers – 339.21 ADA 96.35% last year, 320.11 ADA 96.04% this year
Elevated – 64.67 ADA 87.94% last year, 105.47 ADA 92.60% this year
Sierra House – 389.74 ADA 94.97% last year, 395.53 ADA 94.57% this year
Tahoe Valley – 376 ADA 93.94% last year, 367.79 ADA 93.90% this year
South Tahoe High – 1046.21 ADA 92.85% last year, 1061.37 ADA 94.98% this year