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District midyear pupil services report: chronic absenteeism ~23%, suspensions concentrated among a small group of students
Summary
Pupil services director presented midyear ADA (93.4%), chronic absenteeism around 23% (Dec data), declines for some subgroups and concentrated suspensions; district outlined PBIS fidelity checks, restorative justice expansion and targeted interventions.
Dr. Perle delivered the Merced City School District’s midyear pupil services update on March 11, presenting attendance, discipline and behavioral‑support data for August–December.
Key figures: district average daily attendance was presented as 93.4% (district goal 95%). The midyear chronic absenteeism rate was reported at about 23% for the period through December, with notable subgroup changes: the African‑American chronic absenteeism rate showed multi‑year improvement from higher levels in 2022 and English learners’ ADA showed gains. Dr. Perle cautioned December is a seasonally low month and figures are expected to stabilize as the year continues.
Discipline trends included a high count of minor infractions (examples cited: 619 non‑compliance incidents and 313 disruption incidents in district logs) and higher rates of aggression and fighting in upper elementary and middle grades (noting spikes in grades 7–8). The report noted only about 3% of students account for the majority of suspensions, consistent with a tiered PBIS approach.
The presentation described district actions: fidelity checks for PBIS, expanded restorative justice teams in middle schools, weekly site data review, tiered interventions, social worker case management and partnerships (including community organizations). Social workers Jackie Yanas and Melissa Creo described case work, outreach and examples of home visits and coordinated services that improved individual student attendance.
Trustees asked for disaggregated data on fights (by gender and race) and numbers of foster/homeless students; staff committed to provide those breakdowns in a follow‑up board update. Trustees also discussed potential grant seeking to expand counselor/social worker capacity.
The board applauded the pupil services team and asked staff to continue to refine interventions and report back with targeted data by subgroup and incident type.
