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District reports chronic absenteeism above 25%; corrective-action plan required
Summary
Assistant Superintendent Rotante reported that just over 1,700 students — more than 25% of enrollment — met the state definition of chronic absenteeism; the district will develop a corrective-action plan and school-level goals to reduce absences.
Assistant Superintendent Rotante told the board that chronic absenteeism in the district stands at over 25 percent, a rate substantially above the state average of 14.9 percent.
Rotante explained the state definition — a student absent 10% or more of enrolled school days (about 18 days in a 180-day year) — and said the district had just under 7,000 enrolled students and over 1,700 classified as chronically absent. “When you have 40% of your students missing more than 10% of the school year, that’s definitely going to impact how our students learn,” Rotante said, noting particularly high rates in preschool and kindergarten at some schools.
Rotante described district plans to address the problem: forming a district committee to identify causes and best practices; assigning school- and grade-level attendance goals; weekly school meetings to track and support at-risk students; and using grants and programs (including extracurriculars like eSports and intramurals) to increase engagement.
He noted that districts exceeding the 10% threshold must submit a corrective-action plan to the state and said the board will receive the plan before submission to the Department of Education.
Board members asked whether unenrolled midyear students could distort counts; Rotante confirmed that students who remain on district rolls while away (for example, temporarily returning to another country) can be marked absent and that proper disenrollment practices are important to accurate reporting. Another board member cautioned against certain attendance incentives for very young students, saying they can encourage sick children to attend school.
What happens next: District staff will draft and submit a corrective-action plan as required by state rules and return the plan to the board for review.
