Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Attendance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Haverhill school attendance dips in winter; officials cite illness and family fears
Summary
District officials reported a winter decline in student attendance, with the high school at about 87%, and told the committee the drop reflects illness and families’ fears — including immigration‑status concerns — while members debated testing-day scheduling and its effect on attendance.
District officials presented attendance data showing an overall winter decline in student attendance and a notably lower high school rate. Dr. Murata told the School Committee that Haverhill High School’s attendance was roughly 87% and that the district’s attendance has dipped from figures near 92–93% earlier in the year.
“High school still lagging a little lower than we'd like to see at 87%, 87 and a half percent attendance rate,” Dr. Murata said. He said the district’s January numbers showed sustained yellow-flag levels and attributed the drop to a combination of seasonal illnesses and families who report fear about coming to school. “We have heard directly from from families that they're afraid, just come to school because, you know, immigration status concerns about, students possibly being removed from the schools, you know, by immigration officials,” he said.
Committee members pressed on operational drivers of attendance. Several members noted that late starts and half days correlate with lower turnout; Dr. Murata said late starts often depress attendance across the district and that the high school has sometimes used delayed starts for organized testing to marshal staff and accommodations. Committee member Dr. Story asked why the high school uses delayed starts for some testing days; Dr. Murata said the high school administration has favored concentrated testing days to provide needed staff and monitoring but acknowledged the committee can review the practice.
Committee members suggested exploring later high‑school start times, while noting the complexity: transportation and athletics schedules, collective-bargaining arrangements and impacts on extracurriculars. Miss Collins and others urged continued outreach to families; Murata said counselors and parent liaisons are contacting families and that the district is working to reassure families and staff about safety.
Officials said attendance has begun to recover modestly but cautioned the dip is an anomaly compared with typical winter patterns. The committee asked for continued monitoring, targeted outreach to families with chronic absenteeism, and follow‑up reports with school‑level details and any policy recommendations about testing-day schedules or start times.
