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Administrators flag attendance-data discrepancy that could affect Greene County school ratings
Summary
District administrators told the board they found mismatched attendance figures between Panorama and school reporting that may inflate chronic-absence statistics used in state performance profiles; they recommended shifting which data inform MTSS interventions and using Infinite Campus to exclude school-related absences.
District administrators told the Greene County Comm School District board that two commonly used attendance reports showed markedly different counts of chronically absent students, a discrepancy they said could change who receives MTSS interventions and affect public-facing school performance metrics.
"Panorama shows that we're at 16%—about 65 of our 404 students are chronically absent; our goal was 20," said Karen, an administrator presenting the report. She said the internal school report compiled by staff (Emily Ganon was named as the reporter) shows 101 chronically absent students. Karen said the difference is not an electronic error but a consequence of differing inclusion rules: the state reporting dataset includes students who are not solely Greene County students and treats school-related absences (field trips, sports) as absences in its public metrics.
"The real gut punch about that is that's what goes to our school performance profile," Karen said, arguing that the district’s MTSS team needs to reconsider which data sources to use when identifying students for intervention.
Administrators recommended using Infinite Campus queries to isolate and remove school-related absences when the district assesses local MTSS needs, and to align internal intervention decisions with the operational definitions that matter for classroom support. They also noted upcoming legislative/reporting changes that will alter how the state counts event absences, underscoring the need to monitor future reporting rules.
Board members asked clarifying questions about how partial-day absences are counted and whether the state change takes effect immediately. Staff responded that an absence counts as a whole day if a student misses four or more periods and that the legislative changes are expected to take effect next year; policy changes were not required because the district already marks student-event absences as excused in board policy.
Administrators cautioned the board that because public accountability metrics rely on the state’s definitions, the district must continue to tell its local story using clarified numbers for families and stakeholders.
