How a California school district is solving chronic absenteeism

How a schoolhouse territory is solving absenteeism

How a California schoolhouse territory is beating the likelihood connected pupil absences 03:28

As a schoolhouse caregiver successful a agrarian territory successful Livingston, California, Lori Morgan's occupation usually involves scraped knees and imaginativeness tests.

But she couldn't assistance putting 1 much task connected her to-do list: attendance.

"In a cleanable world, the archetypal clip they didn't travel to school, we would spell retired and conscionable the genitor oregon telephone the parent," Morgan said.

Morgan said she calls the parents, and if they don't answer, she visits families astatine home, encouraging them to scope retired to her personally with questions astir stomachaches oregon anxiety.

"When idiosyncratic volition say, 'Lori, what are you doing calling maine astatine 7 astatine night?' Well, which kid bash I springiness 50% to? I gotta springiness each 1 of them 100%," Morgan said.

At the tallness of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fig of chronically absent students much than doubled to a highest of 31% successful the 2021-2022 schoolhouse year, according to the Department of Education. The astir caller information shows 28% of students were chronically absent successful the 2022-2023 schoolhouse year, meaning they missed 10% oregon much of schoolhouse days.

Because of the pandemic, galore younger children ne'er got the accidental to be time attraction and physique bully habits. In California, 1 successful 3 kindergartners are chronically absent, according to authorities data.

At the opening of the year, Karolina Garcia's 5-year-old girl Selene was missing astatine slightest 1 time a week connected average.

"Am I a atrocious ma for leaving her erstwhile she's crying oregon americium I a atrocious ma due to the fact that she doesn't wanna spell and I'm inactive taking her?" Garcia said.

Garcia said it was often hard to person her girl to spell to schoolhouse due to the fact that she would archer her ma she was getting bullied oregon getting successful trouble.

Missing 1 time of schoolhouse astatine that property is much similar missing three, with students needing 2 days to drawback up, educators successful the territory say. Only 17% of kids chronically absent successful kindergarten and archetypal people were capable to work proficiently successful 3rd grade, according to the nonprofit Attendance Works.

"We don't stop. We support going. If you miss immoderate of the foundational skills, we don't halt and spell backmost necessarily," Morgan said.

Morgan has helped marque her district, the Livingston Union School District, an outlier, dropping its chronic absentee complaint from 19% to 14%, according to the California Department of Education.

The schoolhouse focuses connected transportation and rewards bully attendance with other recess to thatch kids from a young property that they are wanted astatine schoolhouse — and giving parents specified arsenic azygous ma Garcia immoderate other enactment they mightiness need.

"Sometimes you gotta hole what's going connected with the adults successful the location earlier you tin person a steadfast kid," Morgan said.

"I cognize however important it is for a kid to get a truly bully education," Morgan continued. "You commencement disconnected bagging kindergarten, it each truly does matter."

She's surviving the acquisition she wants to thatch parents and students: It's simply showing up that matters most. 

In:
• Education