PHOENIX — Too many students are missing class and the pandemic made it even worse. A local organization working to address this issue released new recommendations this week.
Read On Arizona started a task force in the summer of 2023, working with school districts, state agencies, and other local partners to help address the growing crisis of kids missing class.
Being chronically absent means a student misses 10% of school days in a year; that amounts to 18 days for Arizona students.
According to the organization, about 35% of Arizona students in grades 1-8 were chronically absent in 2023. It was at its peak in 2022 where it was at 39%. Prior to the pandemic in 2019, 19% of students were chronically absent.
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Because of the pandemic, Lori Masseur, the director of early learning for the organization, says students and families’ relationship with attendance shifted.
The superintendent of the Avondale Elementary School District expressed that same sentiment when ABC15 visited in August as the district saw success with its own program in trying to reduce the number of kids missing class.
“After the pandemic, we did what many other districts did, not just here in Arizona but across the nation, are challenged with undoing the messaging that we gave. The messaging was, ‘If you have any type of symptom in any shape or form, don’t come to school, and don’t actually come to school for five days or ten days,’” explained Betsy Hargrove, the Superintendent of the Avondale Elementary School District.
This week, Read On Arizona released an extensive resource guide for schools to help address the problem. There are three priorities it’s recommending:
- Adopt the goal to reduce chronic absence to pre-pandemic levels by 2030
- Re-engage students and families with relevant messaging on the impact of attendance on student success
- Activate cross-sector partners and local leaders in a statewide awareness campaign to promote regular school attendance
The goal in helping students attend class more consistently plays into their academic outcomes, too, Masseur said.
“We know that if children aren’t consistently in seats, if they’re not consistently in the classroom, they’re missing out on that key instruction,” she said.
The organization released additional considerations schools can look into which could be found here.
