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Joliet Township reports semester improvement in chronic absenteeism; deans target part‑day absences
Summary
District officials told the board the first‑semester chronic absenteeism rate fell at both campuses after targeted communications, daily absence notifications and expanded coordinator roles. Deans credited reductions in part‑day absences for contributing to the improvement and said work will continue.
Joliet Township High School District 204 administrators reported a reduction in first‑semester chronic absenteeism and outlined steps the district has taken to improve attendance, including daily automated absence notifications, monthly status reports and changes to how offices share responsibility for follow‑up.
Assistant principals and academy coordinators told the board the district ended the 2023–24 school year with high chronic absenteeism (57.3% at Central; 45.2% at West) and that first‑semester data show measurable improvement after implementing targeted communication and operational changes tied to Action Plan 3.2. The district defines chronic absenteeism here and under state rules as missing 10% or more of enrolled school days for the period used to calculate the metric.
Administrators described a multi‑pronged approach: daily automated ParentSquare notifications to families when a student is absent; a new monthly chronic‑status letter sent to families showing a student’s attendance percentage and contact points; targeted, mailed letters at full‑day absence thresholds; increased two‑way communication after moving chronic‑status messages from the dean’s office to academy offices; signage and materials from Attendance Works in English and Spanish; and clearer delineation of roles so academy coordinators focus on full‑day absences and deans address part‑day/period absences.
“We began sending an automated notification each day at 4 p.m. and a chronic‑status report monthly; moving that communication to academy offices has increased two‑way contact with families and improved problem solving,” an administrator said. The board heard that part‑day absences — students missing individual class periods — count toward chronic absenteeism and that dean‑led efforts to track and call students who miss periods have produced substantial reductions in those period‑absence counts.
The board asked for technical clarifications: the chronic‑absentee calculation uses the same 10% threshold the Illinois State Board of Education uses, applied to the days the student was enrolled (so a student who enrolled in October would have the 10% applied to their available days). District technology staff adjusted iCampus reporting to align with ISBE methods and the speaker noted that excused absences (including documented mental‑health days) count the same as unexcuseds for the state chronic‑absence calculation.
Administrators said the district will continue monthly monitoring, data days in the calendar, alignment of administrator growth goals to attendance measures and iterative process adjustments based on what the MTSS and academy teams observe. They reported that deans’ increased attention to part‑day absences and the academy coordinators’ ownership of communication and MTSS referrals have contributed to early progress but that numbers remain above desired targets.
The presentation closed with a request to sustain current strategies, continue data monitoring and bring finalized year‑end results back to the board in May.
