Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Attendance Chronic Absenteeism topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Summers County director outlines plan to reduce chronic absenteeism, cites state policy change
Summary
At the Jan. 10 Summers County Board of Education meeting, Director Chad Benner reported county chronic-absenteeism rates have fallen from 58.15% (2022) to 35.59% (2024), described a three-tiered attendance approach and said the district will update its attendance policy to align with West Virginia policy 41 10.
Chad Benner, the district director, told the Summers County Board of Education on Jan. 10 that chronic absenteeism remains a major challenge and outlined steps the district will take to lower persistent absence.
Benner said a student is considered chronically absent when they miss 10% or more of the school year, which in a 180-day calendar equates to about 18 days. He reported Summers County’s chronic-absenteeism rate fell from 58.15% in 2022 to 42.9% in 2023 and 35.59% in the 2023–24 school year, but said the county remains above the West Virginia standard for “meeting” attendance (below 20%). “We obviously want to get to where we’re below 20%,” Benner said.
The West Virginia Department of Education’s policy 41 10, effective Sept. 16, 2024, shifts emphasis away from strictly truancy enforcement toward a multi-tiered system of support, Benner said. The district’s planned approach follows that model: universal prevention (attendance messaging, monthly recognition, incentives and communications to families), targeted interventions (principal-led outreach and referrals to community schools) and intensive interventions (interagency case management and, when necessary, court petitions).
Benner identified the high school — and ninth grade in particular — as having the highest concentration of chronic absentees and said district staff use the state’s WVZoom system and school-level attendance teams to break data down by grade and identify repeat absentees. “Our principals are kind of our first line of defense,” he said, describing how community-school staff work with families to determine root causes and connect students to services.
The district has pursued regional training, Benner said, including a session led by a Safe and Civil Schools trainer; Summers County plans to use a train‑the‑trainer model this semester to broaden access. He said the district will rework its local attendance policy, which was last updated in 2017, to align with the state rule.
Benner also reported current district enrollment of 1,114 students (606 at the comprehensive high school; 159 at Ta (Tawkit) and other school counts given in his update) and flagged an increase in HOPE Scholarship recipients: 26 recipients last year and 58 this school year. The board discussed the fiscal impact when students use scholarships or leave the public system; district staff noted per‑student amounts cited in the meeting ranged from about $4,009 to $4,921.39 and that outside scholarships and virtual/homeschool enrollment affect local funding and staffing decisions.
The board asked about next steps and timelines; Benner said attendance-team trainings and other interventions are planned for the semester, and he urged continued parent engagement and stronger school-level attendance teams to celebrate successes and address chronic absenteeism.
Next steps: the superintendent and director will work on updating the district attendance policy to match policy 41 10, schedule targeted trainings this semester, and report back to the board on progress.
