Ralston Public Schools details tactics to raise attendance after chronic-absence drop
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Summary
District leaders reported year-to-date average daily attendance gains and a fall in chronically absent students, outlined incentives, weekly PLC reviews and family outreach, and said the board asked staff to start collecting standardized 'why' data for absences to better target solutions.
The district presented a plan to push average daily attendance toward a 97% target after reporting interim gains and fewer chronically absent students.
School staff member responsible for attendance presented semester and year-to-date figures and interventions and said the district recorded a full-year daily average of 93.3%, a first-semester rate of 94.08% and a current point-in-time rate of about 93.8%. She told the board the number of chronically absent students at semester fell from 76 last year to 59 this year and noted point-in-time comparisons (83 at the same date last year versus 61 now). "We do celebrate monthly attendance at our leadership assemblies," she said, describing incentives such as monthly 'brag tags,' extra recesses and prizes tied to 25-day check-in letters sent to families.
Why it matters: Chronic absenteeism is linked to lower academic outcomes; the district framed its approach around early intervention and continuous family contact to stop students from becoming chronically absent. The district described layered tactics: earlier daily sign-in enforcement (08:10 target), weekly PLC reviews that track tardies and absences, a document that flags students with prior-year high absence, direct family problem-solving meetings, and expanded school-based mental-health supports for tier 3 needs.
Board members pressed for more systematic data on reasons families miss school so the board can direct responses. One member said transportation, family understanding of kindergarten rigor and medical appointments (including ABA) appear repeatedly; staff estimated ABA-related absences reduce ADA by about 0.7 percentage points. The board asked staff to collect and bucket the top reasons for absences (transportation, health/medical, family scheduling/vacation, lack of understanding of expectations, other barriers) and return with that analysis.
The district said it would continue weekly attendance reviews, 25-day check-ins, targeted family outreach and public recognition programs; next steps include aligning the 25-day letters to weekly tracking and reporting back to the board with 'why' buckets and potential board-level interventions. The board did not take formal action during the presentation; the review will continue under administrative monitoring.
