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Colton Joint Unified outlines stepped-up SARB and home-visit efforts after reporting 3,300 chronically absent students
Summary
District officials told the board the district has about 3,300 chronically absent students in 2025–26, and described a multi-tiered approach—SART, SARB, home visits, community liaisons and partnerships with IEHP and probation—to reengage students; staff highlighted anecdotal SARB successes and requested more resources for mental‑health supports.
Colton Joint Unified School District staff laid out the district's approach to chronic absenteeism on Nov. 18, reporting operational totals, interventions and case examples.
Attendance presenter Missy Kingston and Dr. Rowe described chronic absenteeism as missing 10% or more of instructional days and said quarter‑1 rates stood near 18.63% with roughly 3,300 students counted as chronically absent in the 2025–26 school year.
Kingston reported the district has conducted 115 home visits and 144 SART (tier‑2) contracts and 90 SARB (tier‑3) contracts so far this year, with 263 active SARB cases in the queue. She said the district has deployed community liaisons, probation staff and a multidisciplinary SARB panel including the deputy district attorney, school nursing and mental‑health interns.
"SARB is really meant to be a positive intervention," Kingston said, describing outreach that includes reminders, home visits, supportive resources and connections to case management. Dr. Rowe described examples where targeted intervention and incentives led to dramatic attendance improvements: a Grade 5 student reached 96% attendance after SARB outreach; a high‑school student reached 95% and is on track to graduate after wellness‑center engagement.
Board members pressed staff on scale: several noted roughly 3,300 chronically absent students but only 234 students in documented active SART/SARB programming (144 SARTs and 90 SARBs), and asked whether the district can expand identification and outreach. Kingston and Dr. Rowe said many chronically absent cases reflect recent enrollments, incomplete data windows or are still early in the intervention timeline; they emphasized targeted case management over one‑size‑fits‑all punitive measures.
Officials also described barriers families report: student anxiety and mental health, parents juggling work or other life stresses, gaps in health coverage and long waits for community mental‑health services. The district cited partnerships including IEHP health navigators and probation staff to connect families to services and argued for greater investment in community‑school linkages.
What happened: staff presented metrics and case examples and defended a largely supportive, resource‑focused SARB strategy while acknowledging the numbers show need for broader interventions.
Why it matters: chronic absenteeism affects academic outcomes, resource planning and state accountability; the board discussed mapping, targeted supports and whether enforcement options remain viable given changes in state practice.
What's next: staff will continue SARB and SART outreach, provide further breakdowns on school- and cohort‑level data, and work with community partners to expand access to mental‑health and case-management services.
