Superintendent: Brandywine attendance initiative recovers to pre-pandemic levels; district adds MTSS attendance tool

Superintendent Lawson told the board the districton-track attendance initiative has shown measurable gains and expanded this year to secondary schools with a focus on middle schools.

"On-track attendance is a much better risk indicator," Lawson said, explaining why the district shifted from using average daily attendance to tracking individual students' on-track status. She reported that on-track attendance fell to 74% at the pandemic low and recovered to 86% in school year '25.

Lawson described a new homegrown MTSS attendance tool that will let school leadership teams access student-level attendance data and identify students needing interventions. She said targeted hiring of a shared social worker at Lombardi and Maple Lane elementary schools contributed to notable improvements in those buildings.

Board members asked whether the district can analyze drivers of absence such as housing instability, illness or access to wraparound services. Lawson said those issues often require partnership with families and community organizations and reiterated the district will continue developing supports to address non-school barriers to attendance.