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District 5‑Essentials and DESSA results show gains; board flags rising chronic absenteeism
Summary
Superintendent Kinder presented the district’s preliminary 2025 5‑Essentials and DESSA results, reporting growth in multiple survey areas while administrators flagged an increase in chronic absenteeism — students missing 10% or more of school days — compared with pre‑pandemic levels.
Superintendent Kinder presented district‑level results from the 2025 5‑Essentials survey and DESSA social‑emotional screening Thursday, saying the district shows growth in several measures but that chronic absenteeism — students missing 10% or more of school days — has increased since the pandemic and merits attention.
On 5‑Essentials and DESSA Kinder told the board the 5‑Essentials scoring benchmarks were updated in 2024 and the district’s 2025 report uses those new norms. The district showed strengths in supportive environment and growth across other domains. Superintendent Kinder identified collaborative practices as a strong area with a 16‑point increase and said effective leaders, collaborative teachers, involved families and ambitious instruction showed positive change, even when aggregate scores fall in a neutral category against new benchmarks.
On attendance and chronic absenteeism Kinder and administrative staff highlighted attendance data showing an increase in the percentage of students who miss 10% or more of school days. The board discussed that the district average is below the state average overall but that the percentage of students meeting the 10%‑or‑more threshold has risen from roughly the mid‑single digits in pre‑COVID years to about 10% in more recent years (transcript discussion compared '18‑'19 to '22‑'24), a change the board and administrators called significant because missing that amount of school correlates with lower academic outcomes and weaker social‑emotional development.
Planned actions and supports District leaders described several responses currently in progress or planned: - Panorama: exploring Panorama to replace or supplement 5‑Essentials for more frequent, actionable feedback from students, staff and families. - MTSS and CHAMPS: continuing MTSS needs assessment work, rollout of CHAMPS classroom management training for all staff, and strengthening tier‑1 instruction to reduce the need for higher‑tier interventions. - Social‑emotional curriculum mapping: the district has created kindergarten DESSA/social‑emotional curriculum maps and is expanding mapping to higher grades; staff reported positive feedback from pilot work in kindergarten. - Attendance campaigns: administrators will combine building‑level outreach with districtwide communication (Attendance Matters messaging) to reduce avoidable partial‑day and full‑day absences. - Behavior supports: the board previously approved a stipend for hiring a board‑certified behavior analyst; the district added behavior specialists and will continue targeted supports.
Summer programming and community engagement Administrators also reviewed summer camps (math, reading, STEAM enrichment) funded in part by Title I and highlighted a wheelchair athlete who participated in district track events after the district installed a temporary ADA‑compliant ramp for shot‑put activities. Staff described strong family response rates to the 5‑Essentials survey and said summer programs and sports had positive effects on student engagement.
Ending District leaders said they will bring additional data at building level and use Panorama and PowerSchool data to target interventions; they emphasized that improved attendance and stronger core classroom instruction are the district’s priorities for the coming year.
