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Kershaw County staff: chronic absenteeism down to 18.5% at 90 days; tutoring and attendance incentives underway
Summary
District staff reported a decline in chronic absenteeism to 18.5% at the 90-day mark, described school-level attendance incentives, data huddles and an eight-week after-school tutoring program to help students catch up.
District staff told the Kershaw County School Board that chronic absenteeism had fallen to 18.5 percent in the district’s 90-day data and described steps schools are taking to improve attendance and help absent students catch up.
Mr. Matthews, a district staff member giving the update for Dr. Goodwin, said a student is considered chronically absent if they miss 10% of school days for any reason — excused or unexcused — which at 90 days equates to nine missed days and at the end of a typical school year would be 18 missed days. "Students [are] considered chronically absent if they missed 10% of the days that the school has been in operation for any reason," Matthews said.
Matthews gave recent year comparisons the board: the district’s school report card showed 20.7 percent chronic absenteeism in 2022–23 and 21.1 percent in 2023–24; with current 90-day data it is 18.5 percent. He reported elementary schools around 15.9 percent, middle schools about 21 percent and high schools about 20.3 percent. He said the North Central area had among the highest rates and other parts of the county lower rates.
Staff described specific interventions. Many schools are holding "data huddles" and offering incentives to reward good attendance, attendance secretaries are making deliberate outreach to students out for extended periods and Canvas is being used to front-load assignments. Mr. Matthews also said the district will offer an after-school tutoring program that begins next Tuesday and will run for eight weeks to help students catch up.
Board members asked whether absences were mainly due to sickness. Matthews said it was a "mixed bag" but that a recent flu outbreak after Christmas had increased absences at some schools; he relayed a principal’s report that some classes had been operating at about 50 percent capacity during the peak of the flu.
The update was informational; no board action was taken on the attendance item during the meeting.
