School system finding ways to address student absences

ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County Schools personnel are continuing to find ways to get students fully involved and participating in the classroom following last year’s sharp spike in absences resulting from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, student attendance and absenteeism were problems that rose to the forefront in the virtual environment. Middle and high school students didn’t return to in-person learning until late spring 2021.

From August 2020 to March 2021, 10,439 letters were mailed out to families of K-12 students alerting them that their student had reached 3, 5 and finally 10 unexcused absences. Each time a student hit these numbers of unexcused absences, a corresponding C-3, C-5 and C-10 letter was sent home.

Broken down by each grade level, high school students in Richmond County received a total of 3,900 C-3, C-5 and/or C-10 letters. Middle school students received slightly over 2,500 letters; elementary school students received about 3,900 letters.

Three months into this school year, RCS has sent out 1,377 letters, which is an improvement over the 2020 statistics, but still lags behind the rate of student absenteeism pre-pandemic. From August 2019 to March 2020, 800 total letters were sent out across RCS.

A majority of the letters sent home are the C-3, which is the first infraction. C-3 letters account for 865 of the overall number of 1,377 this year. C-5’s make up another 378 of the letters, and C-10’s are at 134. Currently, a breakdown of this year’s letter by grade is not available.

Dr. Wendy Jordan, director of Student Services, said that the letters sent home last year were filled with an “abundance of grace and mercy.” The letters included tips for parents on how to remove any barriers that prevented students from being able to learn, such as Internet or computer access.

By law, RCS is required to report a student having 10 absences to the Director of Social Services and the magistrate. Social workers can begin pursuing action in court at 10 unexcused absences. For elementary school students, an unexcused absence applies to a whole day. For middle and high school students, an unexcused absence qualifies for any of their daily class period blocks.

“Families have had a one-year respite of court action, but we still have the same stacks of documentation,” Jordan explained to the Daily Journal in May. “Chronically absent students — if that remains an issue for the 2021-22 school year, we’re going to court and we’re going to have the documentation from this year to take with us.”

Social workers, along with teachers, counselors, or administrators, can make a home visit to check on a student if they’re not appearing in school. Jordan clarified that with the C-10 letter, many social workers prefer to hand-deliver those.

“It gives them an opportunity to have a conversation with the parents to say ‘Yeah, look [you’re student] has missed a lot of school,’” Jordan said. “It’s not our goal to take people to court. What is our goal is to try to get students to school consistently on time so we can maximize learning for them.”

Social workers have been working on plans with families to make school attendance a priority.

Last summer, all school districts in North Carolina were required to provide a summer school program for at-risk K-12 students through House Bill 82, which was signed by Governor Roy Cooper. The at-risk determination is based on a student’s grades and attendance

Jordan said that social workers developed action plans with families that coincided with the summer program opportunity. Summer school focused on reviewing missed content from the school year, while also serving as credit recovery.

However, for chronic student absenteeism, Jordan said that moving forward, parents will be brought to court and will have to explain the reasons why their students are not in school. Jordan recalled her years of experience as a principal and said that for many of these situations, it’s a “historical problem” that was taking place before the pandemic, but that the events of last year exacerbated the issue.

Jennifer O’Donnell, a social worker at East Rockingham Elementary School, said she monitors the daily attendance at her school. She also looks at a student’s previous attendance to identify any patterns.

At three unexcused absences, Powerschool, the school’s technology software, automatically generates the C-3 letter that is sent home. O’Donnell said she asks for a parent’s signature to get definite confirmation, as well as making sure that her contact information is always readily available.

“If the absences increase or there’s academic or behavior concerns, there may be a meeting … regarding the student’s needs,” O’Donnell said. “Communication is the biggest thing. We’re going to work with the students and the parents, but we can’t help if there’s not a line of communication. All aspects of the school system are available and working together to meet the needs of students and families.”

Addressing the issue

“It’s important before you send your kid back to school, if they’ve been excluded for a COVID-related reason, to make sure that when their kid returns to school they have the appropriate documentation,” Jordan said.

This allows for an unexcused absence to flip to an excused absence in Powerschool. If a student has had to quarantine for symptoms related to COVID-19, that’s another time where students can return to school with the necessary paperwork to ensure that their absence is not counted incorrectly. It must be turned in within five days of the absence.

When a child misses a day or two, Jordan said it’s common for the teacher to call and follow-up with a parent.

Jordan said that this year, students are really benefitting from being physically in the classroom. She added that while many students are still acclimating to the return to the classroom, the opportunities for social-emotional learning and being able to provide for a student’s wellbeing have been easier to access.