ROANOKE, Va. – Almost four years since the start of the pandemic, chronic absenteeism continues to be a problem in our local schools.
New data from a report from Johns Hopkins University School of Education’s Everyone Graduates Center and a group called Attendance Works showed that nearly half of our local school divisions had a high or extreme percentage of chronic absenteeism in the early years of COVID-19. They compiled data from the 2021 to 2022 school year.
The report ranked each school division from low to extreme for students who missed 10% or more of school days for any reason.
In Southwest Virginia, five of our 34 school divisions had an extreme rate of absenteeism at more than 30%. 11 counties were rated high, including Roanoke City, Danville, and Floyd County Public Schools for the 2021 to 2022 school year.
The data was recorded before the merger of Alleghany and Covington Public Schools. Before the divisions combined, Covington had the highest chronic absence rate at more than 44%.
Leaders with the now combined division said they’ve seen a sharp decline since then. They said they’ve seen more than a 90% attendance rate in January. Cindy Fox, who is the supervisor of customized learning programs and division attendance with Alleghany Highlands Public Schools, said it’s especially important for younger kids to attend school.
“That follows them through to graduation and if there is research out there that shows that a student misses 10% or more of school in kindergarten and first grade they are not reading at a third-grade level by the time they reach middle school. So it is so important that they come to school every day,” said Fox.
Alleghany Highlands has implemented several programs to address absenteeism including offering rewards to classrooms with best attendance rates, such as a special lunch. The school system also partnered with local businesses to put signs up in the windows that state encourage kids’ to go to school.
Meanwhile, here’s how data stands for some of the middle and high schools that the report listed as high or extreme chronic absenteeism.
Rockbridge County had about a 28% chronic absence rate, Nelson County had about 33%, Charlotte County had 22% and Pulaski County had a 20% chronic absence rate.
Pulaski County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Graham said absenteeism has gone down from last year. He said it’s now 94%. Graham said some of the programs they’ve implemented include rewards for kids who meet attendance goals. There is also a coordinator who does home visits. Graham said there is a night school too.
“Night school we can count them present for the day too,” said Graham. “So that’s helpful for when you have a child that is out of school suspended and they go to night school we can count them present. So that would be more of an in-school suspension too. So, we’ve seen a good deal of great data from that too.”
Graham also said with the money allocated from Governor Glenn Youngkin’s All in Virginia plan, the division wants to hire a chronic absenteeism specialist.