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Lorain City Schools launches tighter attendance tracking, cites HB 410 compliance and summer enforcement
Summary
District attendance lead described updated procedures, new data tools and plans to continue enforcement through summer; staff cited HB 410 thresholds, a district homeless rate of about 3 percent and ongoing partnerships for family supports.
Dr. Steven Sturgill told the Lorain City Schools Board of Education on June 9 that the district has revised attendance procedures, increased monitoring and plans to continue enforcement through the summer to reduce chronic absenteeism.
Sturgill described a two‑year review and a year of implementation of new processes that align all schools under the same attendance procedures. The district now meets weekly on attendance data — “every Tuesday at 8:30” — to review PBIS, ADA and chronic‑absence trends and to take actions at the student level.
He framed chronic absenteeism under House Bill 410 as missing 10 percent of the school year (about 18 school days) and said the district treats excused and unexcused absences, suspensions and accumulated tardies equivalently for the chronic‑absence calculation because the statute measures hours rather than days. "It's 10% of the school year... if you miss 2 days a month, which comes out about 18 days a year, you are now chronically absent," he said.
Sturgill said the district is using Panorama and other data tools (PowerSchool, a secure data center) to identify students for intervention. He cited partnerships with the Cleveland Browns Foundation, Second Harvest and local health providers (QuickMed, Lorain County Health and Dentistry, North Coast) to address barriers such as food insecurity, mental‑health needs and lack of family transportation.
The district reported roughly 3 percent of its students were categorized as homeless under McKinney‑Vento at the time of the presentation. Sturgill said that transportation obligations for homeless students can require long trips and that the district covers students’ transportation to their chosen school when those students remain enrolled.
Board members asked about enforcement. Staff said the current county prosecutor is more likely to pursue court action when families have not complied with interventions, and they described existing steps: outreach by school engagement officers (SEOs), home visits, letters and referral to the court after statutorily required notices. Sturgill said SEOs will continue summer outreach and that the district intends to maintain intervention through the break.
Sturgill described strategies to reduce absenteeism: building a shared, pro‑attendance culture; early identification of barriers; consistent policies; use of data and family‑engagement work that the district developed with Ohio State University; and visible incentives and celebrations at school sites.
