Pleasantville board approves plan to reduce chronic absenteeism by 5%

The Pleasantville Board of Education on Sept. 16 approved a districtwide plan to reduce chronic absenteeism by 5 percent during the 2025–26 school year, following a presentation from the district attendance task force lead.

District attendance task force lead Dr. Lapel Chapman told the board that chronic absence — missing 10 percent or more of school days for any reason — was 36.39 percent districtwide in 2024–25 and higher at the high school (56.62 percent) and several elementary schools. Chapman said the district’s target reduction equals roughly 600 students.

Chapman said the plan uses three tiers of supports: universal prevention (Tier 1) including an "Every Day Counts" awareness campaign and daily parent notifications; targeted early interventions (Tier 2) such as attendance review teams, mentors and family attendance contracts for students with emerging problems; and intensive individualized supports (Tier 3) including home visits, referrals to school-based social workers, community wraparound services and, as a last resort, court involvement. He also outlined monitoring steps including biweekly school-level data reviews and monthly district reports to the board.

Superintendent Marilyn Martinez introduced the initiative and said the district will align school-level leadership and multi-tiered systems of support to implement the plan. Martinez and Chapman said barriers to attendance include health, trauma, disengagement, school climate, transportation and housing instability; the plan includes partnerships with community agencies to address those issues.

Board member Miss Alberto moved to approve the plan; Miss Silver seconded. In a roll-call vote, board members present voted to approve the plan. The board set benchmarks at the end of each marking period, midyear and year-end to track progress.

The board’s approval directs principals and school attendance teams to begin the Tier 1, 2 and 3 interventions and to report biweekly and monthly as described. Chapman said the district will review policy and adjust interventions as needed during the year.

The vote follows the superintendent’s broader report to the board that also highlighted mental-health resources, participation in the statewide health survey, curriculum additions and expanded extracurricular and swim offerings for students.

Implementation details, including specific community partners for wraparound services and which staff will conduct home visits, were described as part of the plan but many operational items were identified as forthcoming assignments for school leaders and the attendance task force.