East Windsor principals credit incentives and outreach as chronic absenteeism improves

Dave Rowe, the district—director of student services, told the board that chronic absenteeism is measured as "any student that misses 10% or more of the school year" (about 18 days in a 180-day year) and that the number remains an important predictor of achievement and dropout risk.

Rowe said the district—has seen declines from pandemic-era highs but cautioned that some figures are based on 2023–24 state reporting while the district is also tracking internal 2024–25 data. "There's a delay with the Department of Education," he said, and district staff are using both state and internal data to target supports.

Principals described school-level interventions they credit with progress. Britney Santucci of Walter C. Black said the K–2 school uses the Leader in Me program, daily attendance trackers, universal breakfast and secretary outreach to families; she reported, "we were at 9.7%," and attributed the gain to incentives and personal outreach. Chris Sheridan, assistant principal at E.M. Knight, described biweekly newsletters, monthly assemblies and tiered counselor outreach once students approach the 10% threshold. Jasmine Allen, principal of Perry L. Drew, said the school partners with its PTO for murals and incentives, runs an attendance corner in its newsletter and offers monthly and end-of-year rewards such as ice cream bars from Chartwells. Dr. Al Balugo at Melvin H. Kreps said the middle school issues parent letters at 10 and 19-day marks, places some students on contracts and plans an attendance committee to spot needs early.

Rowe summarized the district—system: nurses record absence reasons daily, the student information system tracks patterns, and staff escalate persistent patterns to counselors or outside agencies when needed. He closed by saying the district continues monthly monitoring and cross-school sharing of strategies to reduce chronic absence.