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RSU 12 attendance team outlines interventions to curb chronic absenteeism at Whitefield Elementary
Summary
Whitefield attendance leads presented a three-level intervention plan, PBIS incentives and community partnerships after citing state and district chronic-absence figures; presenters said early attendance patterns predict later dropout risk and proposed a district Attendance Response Team.
Tiffany Jeroy, a social worker who co-leads Whitefield's attendance and dropout-prevention committee, told the RSU 12 board that the district is sharpening its work on chronic absenteeism and introduced a set of school-based interventions. "A student is considered chronically absent if at any time during a school year the total number of absences is equal to or greater than 10% of the total number of days the student has been enrolled," Jeroy said, citing the Department of Education definition and explaining how easily brief, repeated absences meet that threshold.
Mark (attendance committee chair) and the Whitefield team said chronic absence is the single most important factor linked to later high-school dropout and noted that COVID-era attendance patterns continue to complicate comparisons to pre-pandemic data. Presenters cited Maine's 2021–22 statewide chronic-absence rate (about 31.5%) and said district figures improved into the mid-to-high 20 percent range in 2022–23 as routines returned.
Whitefield's response rests on a three-level attendance intervention process: level one is home-room teacher outreach after the 10% threshold is exceeded; level two adds formal letters and review at MTSS/intervention team meetings; and level three brings families, students and staff together for a restorative conversation and individualized supports. Jeroy and colleague Kendra Anderson, the school nurse, described concrete supports used in restorative meetings, such as helping families secure alarm clocks or medical follow-up when health is a barrier.
The school also has new positive-behavior incentives tied to attendance: weekly class recognition, monthly drawings and a VIP lunch for students with monthly perfect attendance. Presenters described operational fixes (a PowerSchool reporting error that undercounted perfect-attendance recipients) and a recently productive partnership with a Lincoln County Sheriff's Office community resource officer.
Looking ahead, the presenters urged broader community engagement (mentoring programs, local clubs and churches) and proposed a districtwide Attendance Response Team to coordinate chairs from each school. They pointed trustees to public Department of Education resources and Attendance Works materials included in the presentation packet.
The board thanked the presenters and discussed next steps for sharing the Whitefield model across the district.
