Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Petersburg school officials report modest drop in chronic absenteeism, outline new attendance measures
Summary
Petersburg City Public Schools reported a 1 percentage-point drop in chronic absenteeism for the 2024–25 school year and laid out a package of data, staffing and family-engagement steps to continue lowering absences after a rise in missed days late in the year.
PETERSBURG, Va. — Petersburg City Public Schools officials reported that the district’s chronic absenteeism rate declined from 39% at the end of the 2023–24 school year to 38% at the end of 2024–25, and outlined a multi-pronged plan aimed at further reductions.
The update Wednesday was delivered by Chief of Staff Dr. Yasmin Gay and followed work the board set earlier to reduce chronic absenteeism. Gay told the school board the division made a slight improvement overall but did not meet the board’s target of a 3% decrease for the year.
The superintendent and Dr. Gay emphasized several data points to explain why the year ended with higher absences in spring than officials had expected: 36 students became chronically absent between March and May; nearly one-third of students who had been counted as chronically absent earlier in the year no longer met membership thresholds because they transferred or left the rolls; and the district’s March–May period accounted for 35.48% of the division’s…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
