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Attendance pilot shows improvement; district tightens coding and communication procedures
Summary
District staff reported measurable gains in consistent attendance under the state attendance pilot, described coding changes to reduce false positives, and outlined next steps to scale mentoring and community partnerships.
Northfield Public School District staff presented results from the state's attendance pilot and described procedural changes the district will adopt to improve attendance tracking and early interventions.
Instructional systems specialist Carrie Duba and newly hired attendance/family support liaison Melissa Hansen told the board the district has moved closer to its target that 90% of students attend at least 90% of the time. Duba said districtwide consistent attendance rose from roughly 81% to 85% over the last reporting period, a change she characterized as meaningful because it represents roughly 200 additional students attending at least 90% of school days.
Nut graf: the presentation combined data, revised coding standards and local pilot practices that district staff say clarified attendance records, reduced false positives and allowed staff to target supports to students with complex needs.
What staff reported Duba described four strategic projects: clarifying definitions and coding, supporting families, collaborating with community and county agencies, and clearer communications. The district completed a “reason‑code” edit that cut the number of distinct absence codes in roughly half; staff said this makes patterns easier to identify. Duba said excused absences (illness, parent/personal requests) were driving the district's absence rates more than unexcused absence, and that clearer messaging was intended to reduce avoidable instructional loss.
School‑level pilots and outcomes Two building practices stood out in the pilot: a high‑school teacher‑mentor program and a more active attendance team at Bridgewater. The high school assigned teachers as attendance mentors for chronically absent students (about 130 students were assigned during the year); mentor‑assigned students showed larger attendance gains and stronger SEL outcomes than comparable students, Duba said. Bridgewater reduced its chronic‑absence rate from about 12% to under 10%, making it the first building to meet the district attendance goal.
Procedural changes and thresholds Staff described specific procedural changes that will roll out districtwide: consistent definitions of tardies, seven daily attendance checks at elementary schools, and a protocol of escalating communication and interventions (talking‑points messages when a student hits eight absences, letters and required medical documentation after 10 days of illness, and conversations after five personal absences). Melissa Hansen will meet with building attendance teams and front‑office staff this summer to operationalize the new codes and templates.
Next steps and equity focus Duba said the district will scale promising practices (mentoring) while preparing to address more complex needs as the district gets closer to the 90%/90% goal. The district noted disparities: male and low‑income students are overrepresented among chronically absent students and a small number of outliers with very high absence counts drive a disproportionate share of the mean for low‑income students; staff plan cohort‑based supports for those students and county partnerships for services.
Ending: Board members asked about communication channels, academic impacts for returning students and whether high‑school outreach should include targeted contact for chronically absent students; staff said data and mentor outcomes will guide follow‑up work and that updated handbooks and messages will go out before the school year.
