Seaside High principal warns chronic absenteeism at 54%; staff outline outreach and supports

Jeff Roberts, presenting on Seaside High School academic progress, told the school board that attendance is the district's central academic challenge and described steps staff are taking to support students.

"When you look at, that data point to the right, that 54 percent of our students in the high school, would be considered chronically absent," Roberts said, explaining chronic absence means missing more than 10% of student-contact days. He gave the school-year context (about 170 student contact days and roughly 17 days equates to the 10% threshold) and said missing that amount of school undermines consistent learning.

Roberts described specific responses: grade-level success teams that contact families individually; counseling and triage with front-office staff and student-support teams; partnerships with community agencies to address housing or medical needs; and programming to increase engagement (clubs, athletics, CTE). He said the district has had success with its freshman success team and is trying to replicate that approach at other grade levels.

On state assessments, Roberts told the board that participation dropped after essential-skills graduation requirements were lifted in 2020 and that opt-outs plus nonparticipation can make interpretation of aggregate test scores misleading. He noted the SBAC tests take "8 to 10 hours" to administer, creating scheduling challenges in a high school.

Provenance: Jeff Roberts' full presentation and Q&A appear throughout the meeting (presentation: SEG 385'SEG 631; assessment discussion: SEG 907'SEG 1039).