Chronic absenteeism and truancy in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should treat it differently depending on grade.

We are at a T1 elementary and chronic absences (and tardies) are a major issue. But at the elementary level it has little to anything to do with the kids. It's parents who don't prioritize it. And think about what it means for a parent to not prioritize getting their 3-10 year old to school for free childcare during working hours. You're talking about parents who aren't employed, generally. May have substance abuse issues or just be absentee generally (my kids have had classmates who relied on an extensive network of extended family, neighbors, and friends to get them to school because parents are simply not present). So at that level it's really about CPS and social interventions to address parental neglect and housing issues. It is not about the 7 yr old just not being sufficiently motivated to come to school.

I am not familiar enough with MS and HS to understand what is going on there but I'm guessing a combo of parental neglect AND motivational issues for kids (including potentially not feeling safe at school for a variety of reasons). At the HS level, providing supports and consequences directly to students makes more sense though.

Also, out if the box idea: based on experiences with chronically absent kids and their families I think DC has a teen pregnancy problem. So many kids having kids. This seems like a no brainer to me-- one of the best possible things you can do to improve outcomes both for women generally and for all kids is to reduce the rate of teen pregnancy. Teenagers are no prepared to raise children in the vast majority of cases and for women, having a child in your teens is one of the fastest ways to reduce your overall education and earnings potential.

+1

I think we need to prioritize the chronically absent or truant elementary school kids. Throw the vast majority of resources at those lower ES kids. Have consequences for their families not getting them to school. Connect those families with resources. We are at a Title 1 school and they provide so many resources for parents- I am not sure if those families most in need access the resources but they are certainly there. I am a teacher and have heard of teachers finding an adult in the neighborhood to take a chronically absent kid to school because their parents wouldn’t. It’s honestly so sad and at some point we have to hold parents accountable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I assume you are sitting in your house in the suburbs with such a dumb suggestion. The majority of DCPS kids walk to school. Are you suggesting that absentee parents who can walk their kids to school on their own schedule are MORE likely to get their kids to a bus stop on time? Isn't there a Fairfax meeting you can go attend?

Uhh, that’s quite the assumption you’re making. Seventy two percent of DCPS students apply for the lottery. While some of those students will not ultimately attend an out-of-boundary school, many will. Also, only 98 of DC’s 249 public schools are by-right, meaning they have guaranteed enrollment spots for students who live within the school boundary area.

While DCPS students ride WMATA free, there are parts of the city with relatively fewer connections to transit, especially east of the river. It’s not uncommon for DCPS and charter students to arrive by private vehicle. Many use transit, and some use bikes and scooters, especially to reach secondary schools.

Anyway, DC is trying to help with transportation by providing free transit passes, buses for special education, and occasional passenger vans for students who are at risk of violence when traveling to/from school.

Tl;dr: If you’re going to flame another poster, have your facts straight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about school buses for ES kids? At least they’d have a reliable way to get to school.

I assume you are sitting in your house in the suburbs with such a dumb suggestion. The majority of DCPS kids walk to school. Are you suggesting that absentee parents who can walk their kids to school on their own schedule are MORE likely to get their kids to a bus stop on time? Isn't there a Fairfax meeting you can go attend?

Have you ever seen a kindergartner walking themselves and their preK sibling to school for 3/4 of a mile so they can have something to eat? I have. But sometimes they can’t make it alone and stay home. A bus isn’t perfect but it would help a lot of kids get to school safely.

But thanks for your input.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about school buses for ES kids? At least they’d have a reliable way to get to school.

I assume you are sitting in your house in the suburbs with such a dumb suggestion. The majority of DCPS kids walk to school. Are you suggesting that absentee parents who can walk their kids to school on their own schedule are MORE likely to get their kids to a bus stop on time? Isn't there a Fairfax meeting you can go attend?

Have you ever seen a kindergartner walking themselves and their preK sibling to school for 3/4 of a mile so they can have something to eat? I have. But sometimes they can’t make it alone and stay home. A bus isn’t perfect but it would help a lot of kids get to school safely.

But thanks for your input.

There actually are buses in DCPS. Most often used for unhoused kids (coming from shelters or other temp housing) but can also be used for kids in other at risk categories IF the school district can figure out a way to do it. But for kids in bad situations their housing and home life may simply not be consistent enough for a bus to be the solution. It doesn't work if you are sleeping in a different home every week. It doesn't work if the issue is your parent/guardian is high every day and doesn't even think about getting you up and ready for school. And so on.

But in any case DCPS already does this for a lot of kids especially at the elementary level.

If you spend any time at all working with this population you understand that you're dealing with endemic poverty and crime issues. DCPS already does a ton and it absolutely helps kids on the margins where there may be issues but maybe they have a grandparent who can step in and help, or kids who are just wards of the state or living in shelters or foster care. But there are still tons of kids in DC who technically have custodial parents (or other family) but there's just so much dysfunction that school isn't a priority.

[Anonymous]

this is one of the legacies of the absurdly long school closures during the pandemic.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/15/has-school-become-optional

[Anonymous]

Also CPS in DC is not removing kids from some traumatic and terrifying situations that would stun, absolutely stun, you. I imagine it’s because they would not have anywhere to put all the kids they ought to remove. One of my child’s best friends has two parents in the home who constantly do drugs, beat each other up, leave the kids home alone, and CPS has been aware/involved for years but ultimately does nothing. It’s like because it’s a two-parent home they think it’s ok. Of course, the kids are truant. I was sad about the situation, then heartbroken, now just angry. How can this go on and on? The parents don’t give a shit and will never change. The school admin keeps close tabs on the kids and gives lots of emotional support but things have only ever gotten worse. And I see how there is a contagion… my son was refusing to do homework because his friend in this household had done zero homework all year, not once not ever, and my son basically decided homework was for suckers. I can push back when it’s just this one friend, but imagine being in a school where this is the norm, how can u expect kids to show up? I cannot believe what goes on in households in terms of abjectly refusing to raise the children in any way, without consequence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also CPS in DC is not removing kids from some traumatic and terrifying situations that would stun, absolutely stun, you. I imagine it’s because they would not have anywhere to put all the kids they ought to remove. One of my child’s best friends has two parents in the home who constantly do drugs, beat each other up, leave the kids home alone, and CPS has been aware/involved for years but ultimately does nothing. It’s like because it’s a two-parent home they think it’s ok. Of course, the kids are truant. I was sad about the situation, then heartbroken, now just angry. How can this go on and on? The parents don’t give a shit and will never change. The school admin keeps close tabs on the kids and gives lots of emotional support but things have only ever gotten worse. And I see how there is a contagion… my son was refusing to do homework because his friend in this household had done zero homework all year, not once not ever, and my son basically decided homework was for suckers. I can push back when it’s just this one friend, but imagine being in a school where this is the norm, how can u expect kids to show up? I cannot believe what goes on in households in terms of abjectly refusing to raise the children in any way, without consequence.

The bolded resonates with me because I've gone through a similar journey regarding some of teh family situations of my kids' friends and classmates. I started out just feeling empathetic and sad but you hit a point where you just feel rage at what these kids are losing due to have parents who are basically nonfunctioning and do not care. Kids who are hungry all the time and verbally and sometimes physically abused regularly and are just being give no shot at life. I understand the generational disadvantages that can lead to this and I try to approach people with empathy but there was a point where it just ran out and now I just have anger for parents who do this to their kids and don't understand that they are just sentencing their children to identical or *worse* lives to their own by just not giving a damn.

I grew up in a home with a lot of abuse and neglect and it took me a long time to feel like I could have a kid and not pass that on to them and even now that I'm a parent so much of my energy goes to giving my child what I didn't have growing up. I view it as the greatest challenge but also the biggest accomplishment of my life. I'm not really professionally accomplished and I'm not rich or some pillar of the community or shining social star. But I'm a good mom and my kid is getting what she needs. I see people who just don't even care about trying at this and it makes me mad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a special ed lawyer representing poor kids, many of whom are chronically absent. A big problem I see is DCPS's failure to identify kids with learning disabilities when they are young/having way too much tolerance for kids not learning how to read. And then when they get to middle and high school, they are totally disengaged because they can't do the work/get the message that they are dumb. So they stop going to school regularly.

Educator here--would you consider submitting this as an editorial or letter to the editor of this newspaper for another? It is such a useful cause-and-effect scenario. I'm sure there are other extenuating factors to the truancy, but this one (no pun intended) rings true, and I don't think people outside the feel know enough to recognize it, much less address it.

[Anonymous]

The first thing DCPS should do is bring back the rule that chronically absent students lose their lottery spot and go back to their home school. We had so many kids who “couldn’t get to school” across town but they live across the street from their IB school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first thing DCPS should do is bring back the rule that chronically absent students lose their lottery spot and go back to their home school. We had so many kids who “couldn’t get to school” across town but they live across the street from their IB school.

This. School choice is great, but what's the point of choosing a 'better' school if you don't show up?

That and the thing about ensuring reading skills would be huge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a special ed lawyer representing poor kids, many of whom are chronically absent. A big problem I see is DCPS's failure to identify kids with learning disabilities when they are young/having way too much tolerance for kids not learning how to read. And then when they get to middle and high school, they are totally disengaged because they can't do the work/get the message that they are dumb. So they stop going to school regularly.

Educator here--would you consider submitting this as an editorial or letter to the editor of this newspaper for another? It is such a useful cause-and-effect scenario. I'm sure there are other extenuating factors to the truancy, but this one (no pun intended) rings true, and I don't think people outside the feel know enough to recognize it, much less address it.

+1

We need more voices in this conversation with policy makers. No one listens when teachers say things like this. It seems like the only voices listened to are the ones calling for less accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should treat it differently depending on grade.

We are at a T1 elementary and chronic absences (and tardies) are a major issue. But at the elementary level it has little to anything to do with the kids. It's parents who don't prioritize it. And think about what it means for a parent to not prioritize getting their 3-10 year old to school for free childcare during working hours. You're talking about parents who aren't employed, generally. May have substance abuse issues or just be absentee generally (my kids have had classmates who relied on an extensive network of extended family, neighbors, and friends to get them to school because parents are simply not present). So at that level it's really about CPS and social interventions to address parental neglect and housing issues. It is not about the 7 yr old just not being sufficiently motivated to come to school.

I am not familiar enough with MS and HS to understand what is going on there but I'm guessing a combo of parental neglect AND motivational issues for kids (including potentially not feeling safe at school for a variety of reasons). At the HS level, providing supports and consequences directly to students makes more sense though.

Also, out if the box idea: based on experiences with chronically absent kids and their families I think DC has a teen pregnancy problem. So many kids having kids. This seems like a no brainer to me-- one of the best possible things you can do to improve outcomes both for women generally and for all kids is to reduce the rate of teen pregnancy. Teenagers are no prepared to raise children in the vast majority of cases and for women, having a child in your teens is one of the fastest ways to reduce your overall education and earnings potential.

DC has two ways of counting attendance. In Seat Attendance is like it says, you are actually in your seat. This does not count excused absences. If you are sick, your ISA is reduced. Then there are the chronic absent which are both excused and unexcused absences. If you miss more than 10% of the year, you are chronically absent. In middle school, if you miss two classes a day, you are considered absent. If I student came to school late and skips a class, they are counted as absent for the day. If this happens often, they are chronically absent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In SY 22-23, 43% of K-12 DC public school students were chronically absent and 37% were truant (chronically absent means that the student missed 10% of more of the school year and truant means 10 or more unexcused absences). Significantly, 60% of DC public high school students were chronically absent.

The DC Council is considering a number of bills to deal with this problem. Among other things, the bills would variously require OSSE to publish monthly absenteeism data on its website, expand the set of valid excuses for absences, provide additional funding to address chronic absenteeism, and designate schools that reach a chronic absenteeism rate of 20%+ as priority zones for the Safe Passage Safe Blocks program.

Mayor Bowser has introduced a bill to require DHS to intervene before a truant student is referred to CFSA. The bill would also direct the AG to prosecute the parents of students who have accrued 25 or more absences.

https://lims.dccouncil.gov/hearings/


I wonder if travel time to school for students that are out of boundary has anything to do with this? How many students have to travel across the city to get to school and as a result are often truant or absent? I wonder if there are grade level where this is more prevalent than the others? Why hasn't DC done more to provide safe transportation for students who are dependent on an adult to walk them to school due to safety concerns?

[Anonymous]

Parents and kids should be sent to jail if they are truant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about school buses for ES kids? At least they’d have a reliable way to get to school.

I assume you are sitting in your house in the suburbs with such a dumb suggestion. The majority of DCPS kids walk to school. Are you suggesting that absentee parents who can walk their kids to school on their own schedule are MORE likely to get their kids to a bus stop on time? Isn't there a Fairfax meeting you can go attend?

Have you ever seen a kindergartner walking themselves and their preK sibling to school for 3/4 of a mile so they can have something to eat? I have. But sometimes they can’t make it alone and stay home. A bus isn’t perfect but it would help a lot of kids get to school safely.

But thanks for your input.

There actually are buses in DCPS. Most often used for unhoused kids (coming from shelters or other temp housing) but can also be used for kids in other at risk categories IF the school district can figure out a way to do it. But for kids in bad situations their housing and home life may simply not be consistent enough for a bus to be the solution. It doesn't work if you are sleeping in a different home every week. It doesn't work if the issue is your parent/guardian is high every day and doesn't even think about getting you up and ready for school. And so on.

But in any case DCPS already does this for a lot of kids especially at the elementary level.

If you spend any time at all working with this population you understand that you're dealing with endemic poverty and crime issues. DCPS already does a ton and it absolutely helps kids on the margins where there may be issues but maybe they have a grandparent who can step in and help, or kids who are just wards of the state or living in shelters or foster care. But there are still tons of kids in DC who technically have custodial parents (or other family) but there's just so much dysfunction that school isn't a priority.

I thought you had to have an IEP (or 504) to get bussing. They bus kids from shelters? Never heard of that in DC specifically, but certainly have in the MD counties.