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York County reports improved attendance measures, outlines interventions for chronically absent students
Summary
Division staff reported month-by-month attendance dashboards showing semester improvements and described layered interventions — student connection coaches, school social workers, flexible in-person recovery sessions — aimed at reducing chronic absenteeism and truancy.
York County School Division staff presented a strategic-plan update on student attendance and chronic absenteeism and described tiered, data-driven school interventions that the division says are correlated with recent declines in truancy.
Dr. Eric Butler, director of student services, briefed the board on metrics and methodology for attendance reporting and described two statutory buckets: truancy (legal compliance tied to Virginia Code) and chronic absenteeism (an academic-impact measure). He noted Virginia’s chronic-absence benchmark has changed in recent years (from 15% to 11% for most students; a 12% threshold is used for students with disabilities). Butler said division reporting counts excused and unexcused absences for chronic-absence calculations: ‘‘even if they’re excused, if they miss more than the threshold, they are considered chronically absent.’’
Butler reviewed division data for the first semester of 2024–25 and compared it to FY24. The division’s truancy numbers (students with five or more unexcused absences) improved: roughly 92% of students were not truant for the first semester (better than the national 85% benchmark), with declines in elementary and middle truancy; high school truancy has been harder to reduce and was described as a continuing focus.
Staff described interventions used in a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) model: tier‑1 schoolwide expectations (PBIS-style affirmations and explicit behavior/attendance expectations), tier‑2 targeted outreach and interventions and tier‑3 intensive individualized supports. Specific resources cited: - Student connection coaches (funded by Title IV and All In grant funds) who track attendance, make family contacts, run Check and Connect-style monitoring, and foster after‑school or mentoring connections. - Division and school-based attendance teams chaired by assessment/compliance coordinators who develop attendance improvement plans when students accrue five unexcused absences; the division also uses a division truancy officer and partners with York County Juvenile & Youth Services for mentoring and wraparound supports for students age 12–17. - School social workers who conduct home visits (scheduled and non-punitive) and link families to community resources. - A flexible in‑person recovery option approved by VDOE: three hours of in‑person instructional recovery with a licensed teacher counts for one day recaptured toward chronic-absence calculation. Most schools use after‑school sessions and offer activity bus service where feasible.
Butler and board members discussed measurement, monthly monitoring and stair-step improvement targets. Butler said the division monitors monthly and at school/grade/class/student levels; teams use data to refine interventions. Board members asked about workload for principals and staff; Butler and other speakers said the division has added social workers and student‑support staff in past years to sustain interventions. A board member requested clear milestone targets; staff said much of the implementation work is done at school teams and tracked monthly so principals and central-office staff can assess progress continuously.
Ending: Staff will continue monthly monitoring and return data to the board; principals and school teams will use the division dashboard to guide targeted interventions that the division says are already correlated with lower truancy numbers.
