Truancy and chronic absenteeism seriously escalated across the nation following COVID, and rather than dropping to pre-pandemic numbers as the virus has ebbed, numbers continue to climb, but in Parsons USD 503 they are decreasing.
Children ages 7 to 18 are required by law to attend school. Being chronically absent, means missing 10% or more of school, for both excused and unexcused absences. In Kansas, that would equate to students missing around 18 days. Truancy occurs when a child is absent with no valid excuse, and is absent three days in a row, five school days in any semester or seven school days in any school year, whichever occurs first.
The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) Commissioner Randy Watson, around December, expressed the urgency of the problem to schools, reporting that state-wide around one in four students, 25.7 %, were chronically absent during the 2021-2022 school year in Kansas. During the same time frame, 38% of USD 503 students were chronically absent, compared to 15.1% in 2018-2019 (pre-pandemic).
Assistant Superintendent Jeff Pegues said the greatest percentages of those students who are chronically absent are not at the middle school or high school level as some might imagine. Rather the greater issues are at Garfield and Lincoln Elementary schools, with absences being greatest among kindergarten and first grade. Lincoln saw 47% of its students chronically absent the 2021-2022 year and 49% of Garfield students were. This is especially concerning given the importance of early childhood education to students’ later academic success.
KSDE has a few theories as to what is causing the problem, including a variety of barriers, aversion and disengagement. “All the attendance things we had done for years just went out the window during COVID. There were no consequences, there were no incentives, and I think it created apathy,” Pegues said.
Parsons USD 503 teachers and administrators have been working hard to address the problem. Though there is no easy solution, Pegues said the district has been working on the problem.
“We figured it is going to be a new emphasis or goal with our Strategic Plan, so we might as well start tackling the issue. We created a new Chronic Absenteeism Task Force that started meeting in January last year. We started researching and brainstorming. We have a representative from every building. We looked at our data and trends and then we started implementing initiatives and incentives in all the buildings,” Pegues said.
Some of the initiatives include focusing on creating welcoming environments and routines in the morning, Fun Fridays, drawing for perfect weekly attendance, as well as teaching the importance of good attendance. The district also took a multi-tiered approach to attendance issues. Students who missed between 10-20 percent of the school year met with counselors and administrators to set goals and discuss barriers. District Social Workers Robin Thomas and Kristina Mayhue worked with students missing more than 20 percent of the school year by contacting parents and meeting with the students to create a plan for good attendance.
Chronic absenteeism dropped 4 % the 2022-2023 school year. Garfield’s chronic absenteeism rate decreased 10 %. Lincoln’s chronic absenteeism decreased by only 1 % last year. The year has just started, but so far the rates are showing dramatic improvement, with chronic absenteeism district-wide at only 23%. Garfield’s chronic absenteeism rate is now at 18% and Lincoln’s is now at 30%.
The Chronic Absenteeism Task Force will continue to meet this year. They will examine data trends and the effectiveness of attendance initiatives in each building. “Attendance affects everything we do in education. Student Achievement, Post-Secondary Success, Social Emotional Learning…If the kids aren’t here, we can’t do our job.”
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