Paterson board hears progress report on corrective action plan after chronic absenteeism hits 34.98%

Deputy Superintendent Dr. Henderson told the Paterson Public School District board on May 13 that the district’s corrective action plan to address chronic absenteeism is yielding early, measurable results but still must contend with a rate (34.98%) far above New Jersey’s 10% statutory threshold.

Henderson said Lever 5 of the Patterson Progress Plan — parental engagement — is driven by the corrective-action framework required by New Jersey statute 18A:38-25.1. The Lever 5 plan includes three SMART goals and 13 KPIs. He said the district launched a targeted attendance campaign and a media rollout, and selected a data-driven cohort of 10 schools (launched November 2025) to receive additional supports and monitoring.

“We’ve seen student engagement increase about 15%, and average daily attendance is up roughly 2% in targeted schools,” Henderson said. He added that 69% of the KPIs were complete or on track as of March 31 and that the district has completed four of the KPIs while keeping 31 on track pending additional evidence. Henderson said incentive programs, student-produced media, posters and school-based attendance teams have contributed to the early gains.

Board members asked about scaling the model. Commissioner Mendez asked how many additional schools the district expects to add for the 2026–27 school year; Henderson said the administration plans to use end-of-year data to form a second cohort and hopes to add 10 more schools if capacity allows.

Henderson acknowledged implementation challenges including launch delays and concerns about the long-term sustainability of some incentive programs. He said the district has identified funding shifts and third-party partnerships to help sustain incentives, and that it will continue monitoring and root-cause analysis to address barriers such as transportation, work schedules and childcare that limit parent participation.

Superintendent Dr. Newell praised the cross-departmental training, districtwide awareness campaign and school-based attendance teams that underpin the corrective action plan. Newell said a fuller update for the 2026–27 school year will be presented at the June workshop meeting.

Why it matters: The district’s chronic absenteeism figure is nearly three and a half times the state threshold, and sustained improvement would affect student learning and state oversight. The presentation documented early positive signs in a focused cohort but left open questions about scaling and long-term costs.

Provenance: Topic introduced SEG 096; presentation and KPI data detailed SEG 113–523; scaling and follow-up discussed SEG 524–556; superintendent context SEG 556–665.