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District reports drop in chronic absenteeism after targeted attendance work
Summary
Jefferson County officials reported a drop in chronic absenteeism to 13.78% at the 20‑day mark of 2025–26 and described interventions including MTSS tiers, attendance trackers and a high-school collaborative.
Robert Brown, who presented the district’s attendance update, told the board that chronic absenteeism is a key accountability metric and described how the district measures and addresses the issue.
“Chronic absenteeism … is a measure that takes into account 10% or more of absences for unexcused or excused reasons,” Brown said, describing state reporting tools and explaining the district uses a 20‑day reporting cadence. He reported that the district’s 2023–24 year-end chronic absenteeism rate was 18.75% and that after 20 instructional days this year the district rate was 13.78%, a roughly five‑percentage‑point improvement.
Brown outlined school‑level strategies used to lower rates, including MTSS tiered interventions, school‑based attendance teams, targeted communications and an attendance tracker given to families. He also described cross‑district collaboration with Berkeley County Schools and weekly support meetings for schools that exceed attendance targets.
Board members asked about home visits, the point at which the district pursues truancy actions and whether attendance data is reported differently in multiple state systems; Brown said home visits occur when contact attempts fail and that court action for truancy remains a last resort after 10 unexcused absences, per state code.
Superintendent Dr. Bishop and board members thanked staff for the work and asked staff to continue returning refined data and plans for schools needing additional support.
