The Rochester City School District is taking a focused approach to improve students’ attendance.
So far this school year, the average daily attendance for grades K-12 is hovering around 80%, according to district data. But for seniors, that attendance rate is less than 65%. The data show a dip in attendance beginning in 9th grade.
School board president Cynthia Elliott said the numbers don’t account for what she calls ‘legitimate reasons’ that students would miss school days.
“They may be learning somewhere else. I'm not sure about that,” Elliott said. “There may be families, or students, who have to work. They've got to take care of the household, right? So those kinds of legitimate reasons for not being in school is a part of this which it should not be.”
Board member Camille Simmons says the reality is that there is an attendance issue that needs attention.
“There are some students that stay home from school because they don't feel good or comfortable or safe ... in the school community in which they reside. And so we have to address that too.”
The Rochester Board of Education’s goal is to reduce the rate of chronic absenteeism by 25% by 2028.
The work of support staff in buildings is crucial to getting students to class and has been the most effective approach to reach that goal, said Joe Feeney, the district’s director of attendance.
“The root cause of an absenteeism is variable by the student,” Feeney said. “It's really important that we know the student. We know the situation. We're doing home visits. We're doing the appropriate level of effort to connect with the family and try and engage the student with school and build connectedness with the school.”
There are five primary reasons for absenteeism, Feeney said. Those include family crises, transportation, homelessness and housing, school safety, and social emotional needs.
“It's case by case basis,” he said. “It's important that we dive in and do everything we can to support the individual student in their circumstances.”
Building-based efforts have included home visits for students who have been absent. For instance, Feeney said during an ‘attendance challenge’ on a Friday, nine staff members from Edison Tech High School visited 65 homes of students who have missed 20% or more school days.
The attendance department highlighted Edison last month for having one of the lowest average daily attendance rates in the district.
Efforts to encourage attendance have included special events, like at Loretta Johnson Middle School where over 100 students celebrated perfect attendance.
The attendance department is also considering collaborations with outside organizations to better support some chronically absent students, such as partnerships with the Gandhi Insititute for Nonviolence and The Center for Youth.
