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Senate panel hears witnesses on chronic absenteeism, community schools and wraparound supports
Summary
The Senate Education Committee held an hour-long hearing focused on chronic absenteeism, where advocates, school leaders and community-school providers urged more wraparound services, earlier interventions and statewide supports to reduce prolonged student absences.
Senator Vin Gopal, chair of the Senate Education Committee, opened the hearing Wednesday by prioritizing a discussion on chronic absenteeism and federal policy concerns affecting schools. The committee heard testimony from Advocates for Children of New Jersey, community-school operators in Trenton, school principals and statewide education associations.
Advocates for Children of New Jersey outlined the scope of the problem. "New Jersey's current 16.6 chronic absenteeism rate is better than most," said Isaiah Fudge, director of Positive Youth Development Policy and Advocacy for Advocates for Children of New Jersey, citing state data. He said that of 1,371,921 students enrolled statewide in 2022–23, 219,507 missed 18 or more school days that year — the threshold commonly used to define chronic absenteeism.
The advocates traced causes to poverty and basic needs: lack of childcare, transportation, food insecurity and untreated health problems. Nina Peckman, staff attorney at Advocates for Children of New Jersey, said unaddressed chronic health and mental-health issues, fear of bullying or violence, insufficient school staff capacity and limited family outreach are recurring drivers. "The time to address attendance issues effectively is as soon as they become an issue," Peckman said, noting regulations require schools to engage parents after up to four unexcused absences.
Representatives of community-school models described hands-on strategies in Trenton. Bernadette Trapp, director of community schools at Mercer Street Friends, said the program embeds staff in three Trenton public schools to coordinate social-emotional learning, on-site food pantries, tutoring, counseling and family support. "We are embedded in the fabric of the school. They serve on attendance team meetings. They reach out to families to see how we can support them," Trapp said, explaining home visits, case management and local pantry access as common tactics.
Laylor Elementary School principal Jennifer Marinello described a data-driven, relationship-focused approach in Hamilton Township that reduced chronic absenteeism at her school from 27% after COVID-19 to 11%: daily attendance monitoring, family outreach, community partnerships (for example, Rutgers and the Hamilton YMCA) and positive recognition programs for students.
Stakeholders representing school leaders and boards urged flexible, local solutions backed by state support. Jonathan Pushman of the New Jersey School Boards Association noted existing state resources — the Department of Education's Conditions for Learning website and a decision-making database — but said staffing shortages, particularly for school-based mental-health professionals, persistent transport problems and uneven local capacity complicate implementation.
Panel members and witnesses repeatedly recommended community-school or full-service models as effective means to address the nonacademic barriers to attendance. Mercer Street Friends CEO Bernie Flynn told the committee that his organization operates on a largely private budget ("privately funded, 90 to 95% of our budget"), with the cost roughly "half a million dollars for us to be in each of the 3 schools." Committee members asked whether the state should help scale such models; advocates urged pilot programs and additional funding.
Why it matters: Chronic absenteeism correlates with lower academic achievement, social disengagement and higher dropout risk. Witnesses emphasized that punitive approaches, such as immediate truancy charges, often worsen outcomes; coordinated, individualized interventions and stronger school–family communication are more effective.
The committee took no formal vote on policy during the hearing and moved on to school-funding legislation afterward. Senators from both parties praised the testimony and asked for follow-up briefings and data on pilot expansions and funding options.
Members of the public and several education associations provided written testimony and follow-up contact information for the committee.
Ending: Committee members said they will continue follow-up with the Department of Education and interested stakeholders on pilot programs, data sharing and possible budget supports for community-school strategies.
