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District reports midyear drops in chronic absenteeism; corrective-action rules noted
Summary
Curriculum staff told the board the district has seen ‘‘dramatic’’ drops in chronic absenteeism at the elementary level (kindergarten cited falling from about 38% in 2022–23 to roughly 21%) and reminded members that New Jersey requires corrective action plans for schools with chronic absenteeism over 10%.
Presenters for the curriculum team described midyear shifts in chronic absenteeism and the school-level work used to address it. A presenter explained chronic absenteeism covers students who have missed about 10% or more of the school year and said the district has seen “really significant decreases across all of our elementary grade levels,” highlighting a kindergarten drop from roughly 38% in 2022–23 to about 21% in the current reporting period.
Board members questioned how the metric is calculated midyear and whether recent illness spikes distorted the picture. A committee member asked whether the midyear rate reflects the share of students who are chronically absent or the daily percentage missing; presenters clarified the metric tracks students who are on track to meet the chronic threshold and noted that early-season illnesses can inflate midyear percentages. The presenters reminded the board that per New Jersey rules, any school with chronic absenteeism above 10% must complete a corrective action plan and said each school maintains a school-based attendance committee to investigate and support affected students.
