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Board zeroes in on chronic absenteeism; asks superintendent to evaluate staffing and strategies

Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board · May 15, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Trustees debated whether adding staff would reduce chronic absenteeism and asked Superintendent Jason Sutter to analyze root causes and return with recommendations; some members stressed surveying families before hiring new positions.

Board members spent significant time on chronic absenteeism after Superintendent Jason Sutter showed the dashboard. Trustees asked whether current staffing is adequate to reduce absenteeism and debated whether the district should add personnel or first investigate root causes such as access, school culture or immigration-related fear.

Some trustees argued for a pilot hire to measure impact; others, including committee members who sit on school teams, said the first step should be gathering family input and reviewing existing interventions (school office outreach, home visits, COST and SARB pathways). The board asked the superintendent to evaluate staffing levels and return with findings and recommended actions.