Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Attendance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Student services review identifies housing, mental health, transportation as drivers of chronic absenteeism
Summary
Student services staff described districtwide attendance strategies including family wraparound supports, ParentSquare messaging, school-based attendance teams, reconnecting-youth coordination, and partnerships with county and community providers; mental health and housing were highlighted as major drivers of chronic absence.
Antoinette Harrison, a student-services leader, told the board the district is targeting chronic attendance by addressing socioeconomic barriers, strengthening school'based attendance teams and expanding family outreach and partnerships with community providers.
Harrison said district work emphasizes wraparound supports that connect families to housing, food and other resources, and described coordination with county-level housing-resource efforts to centralize information for staff and families. She said a reconnecting-youth coordinator focuses on intensive families at the middle and high school levels and that community liaisons and school-based teams are identifying groups with the highest absence rates.
The presentation outlined strategies now in use: ParentSquare for timely attendance notifications and two daily check-ins for families; soft-start schedules at some elementary schools to ease morning transitions; onsite tutoring and volunteer programs; and partnerships with Multnomah County for school-based mental-health supports. Harrison said ParentSquare messages include period-level absence notices and that families can respond via app or web.
Board discussion emphasized the critical role of mental-health services, transportation barriers, and gaps in families'knowledge about available supports. Harrison acknowledged some resource navigation remains 'person-dependent' and suggested compiling a centralized, multilingual resource page for families. She urged continued support for school-based mental-health staffing and community partnerships.
Board members praised the soft-start pilot and the district's targeted outreach to specific demographic groups (for example, Pacific Islander students) to identify culturally appropriate supports.
