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Richmond Community Schools increases attendance tracking, expands mental-health and case-management partnerships
Summary
District staff reported new attendance practices, partnerships with Centerstone and Meridian for school-based mental-health and health services, and concerns about gaps in Communities In Schools case management and retention at the April 23 board meeting.
Bridget Hazelbaker, Richmond Community Schools’ director of student support services, told the school board on April 23 that the district has tightened attendance tracking and is coordinating mental-health and other wraparound services through several community partners to reach students identified as at risk of dropping out.
Hazelbaker said the district now flags a student as a habitual truant after 10 unexcused absences and holds an attendance-intervention meeting at five unexcused absences. "The best place for kids to be is in schools," she said, adding that the district is working with attendance liaisons and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office where required. Hazelbaker reported that Richmond High School had 43 students marked as habitual truants in the first-semester data she reviewed.
The board heard that Centerstone provides free, school-based mental-health therapy and case reports to the district; "there's no cost to Richmond Community Schools for…
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