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Board hears data linking early-childhood attendance to achievement gaps; staff propose surveys and community incentives
Summary
Lynchburg City Schools staff told the board that rising rates of economically disadvantaged students and chronic absenteeism in pre-K–2 are major drivers of early achievement gaps; the division described attendance procedures, testing changes under the Virginia Literacy Act and plans for targeted work sessions and outreach.
Lynchburg City Schools officials presented a two-part data briefing connecting early-childhood attendance to achievement gaps and outlining next steps, prompting board members to discuss surveys, community partnerships and incentives to improve attendance.
Dr. Davis, who led the presentation, highlighted rising pre-K enrollment and a marked increase in economically disadvantaged students in early grades. “If you notice in 24–25, we had over 350 pre-K students enrolled ... you see that steady increase of economically disadvantaged students,” Dr. Davis said, adding that kindergarten enrollment was “just over 500 students” and that economically disadvantaged rates for kindergarten and first grade were approaching roughly 70–73%.
She defined chronic absenteeism using the state standard: at an average 180-day year, 18 days equals the chronic-absenteeism threshold (about 10%), and severe chronic absenteeism is 36 or more days (20%). “So 18 to 35 is chronically absent. 36 plus days in a year turns out to be severely chronic,” Dr. Davis said, and she warned that missing those days in early grades can translate into lost instructional units and foundational skills.
Dr. Davis described the district’s attendance response: attendance coordinators, truancy teams, school counselors and social workers track absences; notifications begin after three consecutive days of absence; and the district works with the court system on truancy where appropriate. She said the division will begin tracking outcomes alongside attendance-recovery programs and after-school participation to measure whether students recover academically after returning.
Board members pushed staff on practical options. One member asked whether the district could survey families of chronically absent students; Dr. Davis agreed and said staff would add a parent-survey component. Members also suggested incentives for improvement—beyond perfect-attendance rewards—such as “most improved” recognition and parent-oriented rewards. Dr. Davis said staff had noted those suggestions and would explore them with community partners.
The presentation also addressed assessment changes: the division moved from PALS to VALS for literacy testing, which is broader and more rigorous; Dr. Davis said that change and pandemic-era testing gaps help explain some year-to-year fluctuations in risk categories.
Staff framed next steps as targeted work sessions: the board will receive follow-up briefings covering grades 3–5 and 6–12 in upcoming meetings, and staff will return with additional data, survey plans and options to increase pre-K capacity where feasible.
The board did not adopt new policy or funding at this meeting; members asked staff to return with survey instruments, potential incentive options and reports that track attendance-recovery program results.
