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Framingham reports roughly one in four students chronically absent; district targets kindergarten and early grades
Summary
District staff said the year‑to‑date chronic absenteeism average is about 26%, with kindergarten inflating elementary rates; staff described targeted teams and new roles to address barriers including transportation, health and household needs.
Framingham Public Schools staff told the Curriculum Subcommittee on Jan. 14 that the district’s year‑to‑date chronic absenteeism rate averages about 26 percent and that kindergarten attendance significantly affects elementary calculations.
Ms. Polacco, who presented the data, said the dashboard currently shows an elementary December figure near 34 percent when kindergarten is included but drops to about 27.7 percent when kindergarten is removed. "Our data for this year to date is about level with where we were last year," she said, and added the district’s goal is to improve on that trend.
Polacco and other staff described a mix of contributing factors: transportation problems, illness, household responsibilities, lack of access to clean clothing, students serving as caregivers or contributing to household income, and winter‑season travel patterns. "Sometimes kids just won't come to school because they don't have clean clothing," she said as an example of non‑academic barriers the district tracks.
The district has taken several steps this year: reallocating a position from the social‑emotional mental health team to support school attendance teams; hiring a McKinney‑Vento student engagement specialist funded by Title I to work with students who are homeless or in foster care; and standardizing attendance protocols and an attendance 'menu' of interventions at each school. Polacco said each school runs an attendance team—typically a counselor, nurse, social worker, behavioral coach and an administrator—that meets regularly to review data and design interventions. At the high school those teams are organized by houses.
On transportation, staff said Aspen (the student information system) includes a reason code for transportation issues but that it was insufficiently granular. The district is adding more specific transportation categories and will train school secretaries to code reasons more accurately so the administration can track whether absences relate directly to buses being late, cancelled, or unavailable.
Why it matters: chronic absenteeism is strongly linked to achievement; the district’s reported 1‑in‑4 rate signals a sustained challenge and triggered steps to improve data collection and targeted support.
Ending: staff said they will continue to refine data capture, train school teams, and use newly allocated staff to engage families and reduce barriers to attendance.
