Shawnee Mission reports drop in chronic absenteeism, expands mental-health and student‑voice programs

Shawnee Mission School District officials on Jan. 13 reported a drop in chronic absenteeism and described new and expanded supports aimed at student attendance, mental health and belonging.

The districtsaid chronic absenteeism fell from 22 percent to 18 percent in December compared with the same point last year, and administrators credited new attendance specialists, increased family outreach and school‑level supports for the improvement.

The update came during a presentation by Student and Family Services that summarized the departmentwork over the past year, including expanded attendance outreach, mental‑health programming and student leadership programs such as YES (Youth Equity Stewardship), Sources of Strength and 0 Reasons Why.

"We set out to renew, review our internal practices for recording attendance and make unnecessary adjustments to support our building teams," said Dr. John McKinney, Director of Student Family Services. "We expanded communication on the importance and impact of attendance, and we identified barriers and have been relentless in removing challenges for students and families."

Memo Rodriguez, one of the district's attendance specialists who serves the South feeder pattern, described the specialists' daily work: following attendance data, meeting families, holding goal‑setting meetings and removing barriers such as transportation or anxiety. "I tell families I talk with that I am here as an advocate," Rodriguez said. He told the board the attendance team has conducted more than 2,300 individual student check‑in meetings and communicated with nearly 2,000 parents this year.

The presentation said the district newly hired six attendance specialists, with an additional position supporting alternative programs (Horizons and Arrowhead) this year. The district also described a protocol for increased outreach, including earlier contact with families, monthly check‑ins for chronically absent students and home visits when staff cannot reach families.

Mental‑health staffing and programming were highlighted as a second major focus. "SMSD employs 57 masters and clinical level social workers and 40 counselors, including five real world learning counselors," Dr. McKinney said, noting that counselors and social workers recorded more than 45,000 guidance‑related interactions in 2023–24. The board heard that the district implemented Character Strong as a preK–12 resource to provide social‑emotional and character development instruction.

Shawnee Mission West social worker Catherine Harder and senior Maya Williams described school‑level mental‑health initiatives. Harder emphasized student leadership in prevention programs: "Sources of Strength and 0 Reasons Why . . . center the student as leaders, empowering them to help not only themselves, but to be able to reach out and help those around them." Williams described activities including a color run, peer‑leader training and a countywide panel that shared students' experiences.

Board members asked detailed questions about the data and implementation. Mr. Garcia asked why overall student contact entries fell in 2023–24 while SEL‑related entries remained steady. Dr. McKinney and other staff said the shift likely reflects stronger tier‑1 classroom supports (teachers addressing more needs directly in class), continued recovery from pandemic effects and more consistent use of SEL curriculum, rather than a drop in student needs.

Board member Ms. Asley asked whether the district distinguishes excused versus unexcused absences when tracking chronic absenteeism. Staff said buildings can disaggregate that information and that attendance specialists focus early outreach on unexcused absences; they also said coding and process improvements are ongoing so schools can better differentiate reasons for absences.

The report included ongoing partnership acknowledgements: Johnson County Mental Health was credited for helping launch Sources of Strength and 0 Reasons Why and for hosting events such as the Youth Leadership Summit. The team said it will continue to develop a belonging resource hub for staff, expand equity‑practitioner capacity and return to the board with further recommendations tied to the district strategic plan.

The presentation closed with a request for continued community participation on action teams and an invitation for board follow‑up; staff said they will provide additional written materials and links in the meeting recap.

Ending: Board members praised the presentation and asked the team to continue tracking attendance, mental‑health metrics and program outcomes. Staff said they will return with further updates and with any recommendations that emerge from the strategic‑plan action teams.