Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Attendance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Superintendent: attendance incentives lifting engagement but chronic absenteeism remains a challenge
Summary
Vernonia SD 47J superintendent reported daily attendance of about 92–93% and said targeted outreach and incentives have improved engagement among previously low-attendance students, but state chronic-absence measures (above 90% threshold) still require more work.
Superintendent presented a midyear update on district goals and said attendance initiatives are improving participation among historically low-attendance students, but the district remains short of the state's chronic-absence target.
"When you look at our daily attendance, like, we're 93, 92, 93%," the superintendent said, adding that the state metric focuses on chronic absence (missing 17 days a year) and the district must reduce those counts to meet a 90% threshold on that measure. The superintendent described several changes: modifying late-mark procedures, adding a second attendance staff person, and working with the ESD attendance team to conduct home outreach and develop attendance plans.
Board members highlighted the link between extracurricular engagement and attendance and urged early interventions for middle-school students. The superintendent also described programs to expand extracurriculars, strengthen mentoring and bring outside youth-mentoring groups into middle school athletics to build belonging and retention.
Board requested follow-up information on the 10th-grade enrollment drop and asked staff to circulate detailed attendance breakdowns to members.
