Chronic Absenteeism

[Anonymous]

I know that chronic absenteeism at elementary and middle school is improving a little, but is not improving at high school level using plan put into place at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

Do you know if they have modified their plan on how to improve attendance at the high school level?

[Anonymous]

The “plan” is up to each individual high school and principal to implement. As you can imagine, the plans are lackluster, non-existent or unscalable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that chronic absenteeism at elementary and middle school is improving a little, but is not improving at high school level using plan put into place at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

Do you know if they have modified their plan on how to improve attendance at the high school level?

I didn’t notice any improvement at my middle school. Normally our principal likes to show us numbers that indicate any improvement at all.

[Anonymous]

I think the plan is to increase equity with 3-pronged program:

close virtual academy so more diverse students don't attend school,

mark high performig Asians as chronically absent when they take 3 weeks to visit family or attend academic and artistic events outside of school

teach less in high performing schools so Asians and whites skip more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the plan is to increase equity with 3-pronged program:

close virtual academy so more diverse students don't attend school,

mark high performig Asians as chronically absent when they take 3 weeks to visit family or attend academic and artistic events outside of school

teach less in high performing schools so Asians and whites skip more.

LOL!

[Anonymous]

would a modified loss of credit policy work? Modified so that students with real barriers will be given a plan that works for them but students who skip class "because they can" would possibly loss credit for the class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:would a modified loss of credit policy work? Modified so that students with real barriers will be given a plan that works for them but students who skip class "because they can" would possibly loss credit for the class?

That would require nuance and judgment, which MCPS cannot seem to handle and operationalize.

[Anonymous]

If a kid skips a class after entering the building we can give a zero for that day on any assignment. Just need to email home. I also CC admin and guidance.

[Anonymous]

If only teachers would sing and dance harder the kids wpuld show up. I could see principals blaming the teachers someway as uninspiring and apathetic to the special needs of the students to show up. Its always the teachers fault.

[Anonymous]

My kids missed 5 days each time they got COVID from their classmates. This really doesn't help, but it is the new normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids missed 5 days each time they got COVID from their classmates. This really doesn't help, but it is the new normal.

Chronic absenteeism starts at 18 days absent per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids missed 5 days each time they got COVID from their classmates. This really doesn't help, but it is the new normal.

Chronic absenteeism starts at 18 days absent per year.

They got COVID 3 times and were sick a couple of other days so they qualify. Unfortunately, this is the new post-pandemic normal.

[Anonymous]

My kids were also all tagged with chronic absenteeism. They count it as a day absent if you miss any periods. So that’s 6 orthodontic appointments plus 1 regular doctors appointment plus 2 dental appointments plus one week out with Covid plus one week out with stomach virus plus a couple more days out with minor cold or headaches, plus a few that were subs that failed to properly take attendance . It was pretty easy to get to 18 days in a year.

I just think the whole exercise is meaningless because of how they count absences. They should have one category for excused absences. Then a different category of kids that are chronically out with excused illness, which should probably be a higher trigger and not include partial day absences (eg doctors appointment during gym period ).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids were also all tagged with chronic absenteeism. They count it as a day absent if you miss any periods. So that’s 6 orthodontic appointments plus 1 regular doctors appointment plus 2 dental appointments plus one week out with Covid plus one week out with stomach virus plus a couple more days out with minor cold or headaches, plus a few that were subs that failed to properly take attendance . It was pretty easy to get to 18 days in a year.

I just think the whole exercise is meaningless because of how they count absences. They should have one category for excused absences. Then a different category of kids that are chronically out with excused illness, which should probably be a higher trigger and not include partial day absences (eg doctors appointment during gym period ).

Thank you.
Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids missed 5 days each time they got COVID from their classmates. This really doesn't help, but it is the new normal.

Chronic absenteeism starts at 18 days absent per year.

They got COVID 3 times and were sick a couple of other days so they qualify. Unfortunately, this is the new post-pandemic normal.

Why would getting covid a few times make someone chronically absent? The guidelines are to return 24 hours after the fever subsides.