New Synergy attendance rules change how absences are recorded; chronic absenteeism at 23.38% in 2024–25

The Bethlehem Area SD curriculum committee described changes to attendance-recording methods after the district implemented the Synergy student information system, and presented 2024–25 attendance data on Sept. 8.

Administrators said Synergy allows period‑level minute tracking and that the district made a definitional change at the secondary level: missing two or more periods in a day will be recorded as an absence for that day; at middle schools missing four or more periods will be recorded as a day’s absence. Elementary attendance remains daily. Secretaries can override automated entries when appropriate, staff said.

The presenters cautioned that average daily attendance (ADA/ADM) and chronic absenteeism measure different things: ADA/ADM is an average participation ratio and can remain relatively high while chronic absenteeism (students missing 10% or more of school days) remains elevated because perfect-attendance students offset chronically absent students in averages. The district reported a 23.38% chronic absenteeism rate for 2024–25.

Administrators described outreach efforts and interventions — breakfast-for-all, family and community engagement, MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support), student assistance and early-warning monitoring built into Synergy — that aim to reduce absences. Staff noted data-monitoring tools, attendance-analytics reports and an MTSS module in Synergy that school teams and principals can use in real time to target interventions.

Board members asked about notification messaging to families for absences and whether the district could improve the tone and clarity of mass notifications. District staff said they are reviewing vendor options for mass messaging and will seek to improve content to encourage engagement rather than alarm.

Administrators said the 24–25 figures likely present a more accurate account of who was physically present in classrooms due to greater precision in the new system, even if that leads to year-to-year comparisons that look worse when measured more precisely.