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Absenteeism is way up in California schools due to quarantines, Covid fears and disengaged students, reports Carolyn Jones in EdSource.
Stockton Unified said that so far, 39% of its students have been chronically absent, more than double the rate two years ago. The district’s truancy outreach workers are visiting up to 60 homes a day, offering incentives like prizes and backpacks, to encourage students to come to school.
Oakland Unified reported that almost 33% of students were chronically absent as of mid-September. Among transitional kindergartners to fifth graders, the rate was higher than 37%. Two years ago, only 14% in that age group were chronically absent.
Students in quarantine and those who’ve opted for long-term independent study must log on and complete their work every day or be marked absent. Many aren’t doing the work.
Thermalito Union Elementary, a 1,500-student mostly low-income rural district in Butte County, in Northern California, worked to halve the rate of chronic absenteeism (missing 10 percent or more of classes) before the pandemic. That progress has been lost, Jones writes. Forty-six percent of students have been chronically absent this year, up from 8.8 percent two years ago.
Long Beach Unified also had worked to boost attendance before the pandemic. “Staff sent personal emails, made calls, and visited families, trying to address whatever barriers kept students from getting to class,” Jones writes.
Anticipating problems with student engagement due to the pandemic, the district expanded its social-emotional offerings before campuses reopened in August. High schools opened wellness centers, the district hired more social workers and teachers honed their skills in recognizing and addressing trauma.
It wasn’t enough, (Assistant Superintendent Erin) Simon said. After more than a year of remote learning, some students continue to suffer mental health challenges, she said. Suicide threats and misbehavior have soared, as well as absenteeism.
“Our staff is already overwhelmed,” she said.
English Learners missed a lot of remote school in 2020-21, writes Asher Lehrer-Small on The 74. “Ten out of 11 school systems that provided data in response to public record requests filed by The 74 reported surges in chronic absenteeism among English learners in the 2020-21 school year. In all but one district, the percent change in absenteeism was higher among ELs than the overall student population.”