Hennepin County says Be at School program is seeing a surge in 15‑day drops, urges data access and interagency council

Ashley Hightower, who leads Hennepin County’s Be at School truancy and neglect program, told the Education Finance Committee that county outreach to unenrolled students has grown and that coordinated data sharing and policy support are needed to prevent children from "falling through the cracks."

Hightower reported current referral counts "at the time of testimony" of 5,567 and said that 517 students had been reported to the county through direct school referrals; in addition, over 1,000 students arrived via a secondary superintendent list that Hennepin County now receives under recent statute changes. Hightower said the county had seen 116 15‑day-drop referrals from December through February this year versus 40 in the same period last year.

The Be at School staff member described statutory- and practice-driven routes for 15‑day-drop students: (1) when schools report directly to county, county assigns community partners and completes three outreaches plus a home visit; (2) if outreach fails, the case may be referred to child protection; (3) under a newer reporting pathway the county can access a broader list of students identified by the state or district and then assign community partners. Hightower said inconsistent local reporting practices and missing real‑time enrollment data hinder early, effective outreach.

Hightower asked the committee to consider three legislative priorities: access to near-real-time data systems, an attendance media campaign to reduce stigma and improve communication with families, and an interagency council on student attendance to coordinate policy and funding across schools, counties and state agencies.

"We are losing kids," she said, and urged the committee to support bills that would strengthen county access to information and funding for outreach. Committee members asked clarifying questions about differences among referral pathways and about why some students appear on the county list while others route through child protection. Hightower said variation depends on district resources and reporting practices, and that counties lack jurisdiction over how districts define excused vs. unexcused absences.