The economic challenges facing our country, county and our educational system do not limit the moral imperative that “every kid counts.” When you look at schools through this lens, it becomes clear that we must have programs for our kids that address their individual academic, physical, artistic and emotional needs.

This also has to be the charge of our community. We need to make sure that we give our children our time, energy and support.

The local service clubs have been very generous to our youth and have made them as a priority. Many adults in our neighborhoods have provided assistance to the our youth through Youth Football, the South Shore Little League, the Konocti Basketball League, Youth Soccer, The Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, FFA, clogging classes, the skate park and church youth groups through their church – just to name a few.

These are the activities that create wonderful memories and help our children grow. We need to continue these efforts more than ever because “every kid counts.”

The Konocti Unified School District has embarked upon a concept of “neighborhood schools.” These schools are the “hub” of their neighborhoods providing intellectual enrichment and assistance to our kids, as well as, athletics, music, art and family activities.

Our budget is balanced and we have kept our dedicated teachers and support staff. We have the maintained our small class sizes in kindergarten, first, second and third grades. We have preserved our classroom music program in the primary grades and the band and drama programs for seventh and eighth graders.

The After School Opportunity programs will still be available to for students needing academic assistance. We have planned a full intramural athletic program that will involve more students than ever before and include county-wide competitions. We’ve done this because “every kid counts.”

Our children deserve the best experience that our community can provide. We need our parents, grandparents, foster parents and caregivers to make sure that their kid makes it to school daily. This is a key to making sure our kids get what they need.

Good attendance means missing no more than one day per month or being present at least 95 percent of the time. National research proves that less than 95 percent attendance is the break point at which a student starts to fall behind and disparities in learning begin to appear.

If our students don’t have good attendance, they miss out and so do the schools which lose the funding needed to continue the programs. We took the chance, kept the programs and we are counting on our kids coming to school.

We are all connected. If the students don’t come to school, we lose the programs. If we lose the programs, people will be less inclined to move into our community or they will leave to communities that have more to offer. If people leave, our businesses cannot prosper.

We are tied together and we can either do what it takes to create neighborhoods and communities that flourish or we can watch the whole thing slowly fall apart.

I love this community. It has given me the opportunity to serve others and has given me a clear purpose in life. The friends and family I have made here over the past 20 years are the most valued things in my life. This community has taught me that helping others flourish is tremendously important and satisfying.

Let’s join together, volunteer at a school, help a kid, and in turn, help yourself because we know that every kid counts.

Dr. William R. MacDougall, Ed.D., is in his first year as Konocti Unified School District's superintendent. He writes periodic updates with community members to let them know the state of the district.