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District reports chronic‑absence improvements at focus sites; LCSSP grant supports outreach
Summary
Administrators said the district’s Learning Communities for School Success Program (LCSSP) funded work helped reduce chronic absenteeism at several focus sites and that Everyday Labs outreach recovered absences and distributed resources to families.
Sacramento City Unified staff told the board they have seen early improvements in chronic absenteeism at LCSSP focus schools after deployment of attendance teams, family engagement activities and partnerships with community organizations.
“Showing up every day is one of the strongest predictors of future success,” Jennifer Kretrin, director of student attendance and engagement, said as she introduced the LCSSP program update. She said the program is funded by a state grant (Prop 47 funds) and allows the district to place attendance staff and family partnership facilitators on campus at high‑need sites.
District staff highlighted the core pieces of the LCSSP work: an intensive focus program at 10 sites, a family‑focused engagement program, mentorship and a data‑driven “Program Greatness” model targeted at boys of color in grades 4–6. Staff also noted a partnership with Everyday Labs to deploy “nudges,” letters and outreach that the district credits with preventing absences and connecting families to resources.
Kretrin reported that Everyday Labs helped prevent 9,000 absences, recovered $590,000 in ADA and distributed more than 14,000 family resources as part of the partnership. The presentation included site‑level data showing improvements at some formerly high‑absenteeism schools: selected focus sites moved several percentage points toward lower chronic absence compared with pandemic peaks.
Staff said they now deploy two intensive case managers (student and family support specialists) to provide tier‑3 supports, conduct home visits, develop case plans and coordinate referrals to partners such as La Familia and Heartland. Those specialists also facilitate restorative attendance conferences when needed.
Board members asked for more granular goals and progress monitoring at the school level. Member Rhodes asked how the district sets targets and how the board will see site‑specific goals; staff said school‑site folders and readiness surveys inform site plans and that staff will be prepared to share more detailed targets and progress monitoring in future reports.
No formal board action was taken; staff sought the board’s continued support for the LCSSP scope and for aligning attendance goals with site improvement plans.
