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District says data reconciliation and training drove sharp drop in chronic absence rate
Summary
Board heard that reconciling attendance between the tech center and home high schools, updated coding and training (Safe and Civil Schools / Jessica Sprick) contributed to a notable reduction in chronic absences; staff outlined MTSS approaches and school action teams as ongoing steps.
District staff told the Mercer County Board of Education on Oct. 13 that a detailed review of attendance records, updated reporting codes and new training have reduced the district’s chronic‑absence numbers.
Chair (S1) and administrators explained the mechanics: staff audited student records across McTac (the tech center) and home high schools and corrected cases where students were physically at one campus but marked absent at another. A district speaker (S7) said the cross‑checking work "took a long time" and helped lower the chronic‑absence statistic. Chair (S1) summarized the point bluntly: "So the reality of it is the number that was reported last year is false because of failure to... communicate between the schools, basically." The board heard that improved coding and a planned state fix to allow attendance to show at both sending and receiving campuses will further reduce reporting errors.
Staff also described local, nonpunitive strategies to keep students in school: school attendance teams with action plans, community outreach (letters to doctors’ offices), and training from Safe and Civil Schools that encourages family‑centered problem solving rather than punitive measures. Staff credited Jessica Sprick’s model and MTSS approaches for helping schools design individualized interventions and for reducing chronic absence in some elementary and middle schools.
Why it matters: chronic absence is a balanced‑scorecard indicator used in state accountability. District leaders said correcting reporting discrepancies and training staff are first steps; they emphasized follow‑up monitoring to ensure gains are sustained rather than an artifact of coding changes.
What’s next: the district will provide monthly attendance updates to the board, continue state‑supported pilots (including Bluefield Middle and Princeton Middle) and seek to scale successful attendance incentives and community‑based interventions.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 2068, topfinish SEG 2270.
