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Board hears OSAS analysis showing how chronic absenteeism depresses scores
Summary
Ken Howe presented an OSAS cohort analysis showing chronically absent students (absent >90%) reduce district performance; the superintendent said the October chronic absentee rate was 36.96%, and the board discussed attendance-focused strategies.
Ken Howe presented a cohort-based review of OSAS results that removed chronically absent students (those missing more than 90% of days) to illustrate the effect of attendance on district scores. Howe said the side-by-side analysis shows appreciable gains among students with 90%+ attendance and highlighted a puzzling dip in fourth-grade ELA that he could not immediately explain.
Superintendent Holloway and board members used Howe’s analysis to frame attendance reduction as a top priority. Holloway reported the district’s October chronic absentee rate as 36.96%, up from approximately 32.5% in September, and said improving attendance could materially improve achievement and competitiveness with state averages.
Board members thanked Howe for the analysis and noted that better attendance strategies would take coordinated effort; Howe cautioned against speculation about causes for grade-specific anomalies. Board discussion included outreach strategies and community engagement to address chronic absence.
The board did not adopt new attendance policy tonight; the analysis will inform future strategies and community engagement work.
