Ralston schools report improving attendance but high chronic absenteeism at high school

District administrators told the Ralston Public Schools Board that average daily attendance has improved in several schools but that chronic absenteeism remains a significant issue, particularly at Ralston High School.

"Part of our strategic plan...we look at attendance periodically," presenter Buckingham said as he shared a district attendance report dated April 23. The district reported an overall positive trajectory in average daily attendance at many schools and notable gains at the middle school and several elementary schools.

However, the district reported 484 students classified as chronically absent at the high school, a number administrators described as "too big" and a continuing focus of intervention efforts. Buckingham explained some of the technical causes of the chronic-absence metric: students who enroll for only a short interval can reach chronic-absence thresholds quickly (for example, a student enrolled for 10 days who misses one day is logged as 10% absent), and attendance gaps that occur before a student formally withdraws remain in the district’s year-long record.

Administrators said the district’s attendance work includes building-level outreach, middle-school daily attention to attendance and partnerships to intervene earlier. They also noted the district’s mobility rate and family barriers — including work schedules and appointment timing — complicate efforts: on-site services reduce instructional disruption, they said, because students miss minutes rather than entire days when services are offered at the school.

Board members asked for continued focus on reducing chronic absenteeism and bridging the attendance gap between the high school and lower grades. District staff said they will continue a combination of building-level strategies and targeted supports and reported that middle-school improvements should, over time, reduce high-school chronic absences.