Roughly 25% of MCPS students are chronically absent, and absenteeism response plan delayed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter just graduated from MCPS, and hardly went to school. her pediatrician even understood why she did not want to be in that environment, with drugs, verbal assaults , requests to sext etc ......she basicaly taught herself. She refused to return to private school.

MCPS did nothing ! Other than the daily call from a robot telling me my kid was absent, yes, I already knew ......no attendance plan, no calls from the grade chair, absolutely nothing. And passed.

The decline in MCPS is staggering.

DP. The environment in the schools is the key. There will continue to be absences because well behaved kids are tired of the the disruptions. Why show up to a place with constant fights, yelling teachers, drug use in the bathrooms, etc? I give my kids mental health days off and I will continue to do so. They are still A and B students.

The absentee problem is not just with kids that "need" to be there. It seems many prefer missing days just for the break. MCPS helpfully provides the number of days that can be missed.

You are the problem not solution. Get your kids a therapist and meducation if they need mental health days as something serious is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

The data doesn’t need to be broken out by excused or unexcused, because it has no meaning. There are kids who have legitimate reasons for being absent who don’t know to get an excuse note, have parents who don’t speak English and don’t know how, or whose parents just won’t write one. Then there are parents who will write excuse notes all the time without really paying attention. (Yeah, Larla, you really are sick every week whenever there is a math quiz or test.)

If a student is chronically absent, especially the ones with more than 20% absences, they are missing a significant amount of instruction and opportunity to learn by working with peers. It also makes it really hard to plan engaging lessons where kids work together when 1/4 of kids are absent and another 1/4 aren’t prepared because they were absent earlier.

Students that truly have chronic illnesses should be utilizing one of the several other educational options like IIS, OPTG, or VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

The data doesn’t need to be broken out by excused or unexcused, because it has no meaning. There are kids who have legitimate reasons for being absent who don’t know to get an excuse note, have parents who don’t speak English and don’t know how, or whose parents just won’t write one. Then there are parents who will write excuse notes all the time without really paying attention. (Yeah, Larla, you really are sick every week whenever there is a math quiz or test.)

If a student is chronically absent, especially the ones with more than 20% absences, they are missing a significant amount of instruction and opportunity to learn by working with peers. It also makes it really hard to plan engaging lessons where kids work together when 1/4 of kids are absent and another 1/4 aren’t prepared because they were absent earlier.

Students that truly have chronic illnesses should be utilizing one of the several other educational options like IIS, OPTG, or VA.

I agree with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

The data doesn’t need to be broken out by excused or unexcused, because it has no meaning. There are kids who have legitimate reasons for being absent who don’t know to get an excuse note, have parents who don’t speak English and don’t know how, or whose parents just won’t write one. Then there are parents who will write excuse notes all the time without really paying attention. (Yeah, Larla, you really are sick every week whenever there is a math quiz or test.)

If a student is chronically absent, especially the ones with more than 20% absences, they are missing a significant amount of instruction and opportunity to learn by working with peers. It also makes it really hard to plan engaging lessons where kids work together when 1/4 of kids are absent and another 1/4 aren’t prepared because they were absent earlier.

Students that truly have chronic illnesses should be utilizing one of the several other educational options like IIS, OPTG, or VA.

It also gets coded into the system wrong. We've had teachers say my child is absent regularly for home room and they were there but the teacher said they didn't participate to their satisfaction even though it wasn't a graded class. The topics were things my child wasn't comfortable discussing but did as much as they were comfortable. So for weeks on end, they'd get marked absent. Some teachers are abusing it. We had proof/pictures of child was in the class but teacher refused to change it and registrar said teacher had to.

Likewise, we were never required to get absence notes for things like doctors appts or ortho appointments. But, sometimes they didn't get into the system as unexcused despite me filling out the form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

The data doesn’t need to be broken out by excused or unexcused, because it has no meaning. There are kids who have legitimate reasons for being absent who don’t know to get an excuse note, have parents who don’t speak English and don’t know how, or whose parents just won’t write one. Then there are parents who will write excuse notes all the time without really paying attention. (Yeah, Larla, you really are sick every week whenever there is a math quiz or test.)

If a student is chronically absent, especially the ones with more than 20% absences, they are missing a significant amount of instruction and opportunity to learn by working with peers. It also makes it really hard to plan engaging lessons where kids work together when 1/4 of kids are absent and another 1/4 aren’t prepared because they were absent earlier.

Students that truly have chronic illnesses should be utilizing one of the several other educational options like IIS, OPTG, or VA.

I agree with this.

MVA wouldn't work as it's a full class schedule and no flexibility except location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

The data doesn’t need to be broken out by excused or unexcused, because it has no meaning. There are kids who have legitimate reasons for being absent who don’t know to get an excuse note, have parents who don’t speak English and don’t know how, or whose parents just won’t write one. Then there are parents who will write excuse notes all the time without really paying attention. (Yeah, Larla, you really are sick every week whenever there is a math quiz or test.)

If a student is chronically absent, especially the ones with more than 20% absences, they are missing a significant amount of instruction and opportunity to learn by working with peers. It also makes it really hard to plan engaging lessons where kids work together when 1/4 of kids are absent and another 1/4 aren’t prepared because they were absent earlier.

Students that truly have chronic illnesses should be utilizing one of the several other educational options like IIS, OPTG, or VA.

The gate keepers of those special programs are part of the problem, not the solution. For example, if a child has a diagnosed condition that allows a child to attend school some days but not others, the student doesn’t qualify for the special programs. Also, MCPS schools are not helpful at referring students to programs that would be appropriate for students with long term illnesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People, your kids missing school due to a handful of appointments are not who they are talking about. Students are missing 50+ days of school year after year and nothing happens. They are no consequences so they keep doing it.

Chronically absent is 10%, so 18days and it includes excused and I excused absences.

18 school days is 3 1/2 weeks of school. 25% of students are absent 3 1/2 weeks of school. This is at a time when students are not meeting state standards in math.

Any ideas from MCPS on how they are going to address the problem?

What are parents going to do about the problem? This is a parenting issue.

I agree with that, but there are many f-ed up parents (and I mean f-ed up beyond what you can imagine) in the system. Some of these kids have no chance at a normal life. At some point, though, the collective problem impacts the schools and students who have a fighting chance at a normal life. What do we do about them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

How can school leadership work on the issue without breaking out the data?

For example, if a particular class has more absences than the norm, wouldn’t it be necessary to figure out why? Wouldn’t finding out why the students were absent be necessary before proposing a solution?

MCPS also needs to review its attendance reporting practices to ensure schools are collecting the data mandated by MSDE. Notes should be on file for excused absences so data can be collected as to why students were not present when excused.

Absolutely. Without understanding the data, this is really just useless.
The strategy to get one kid in school who is 17 and just hanging out at 7-11 instead of going to class is going to be very different than the supports a kid with a chronic health problem may need which are going to be very different from whta to do about a 9 year old who spends a month visiting family in another country each year.
How can they even begin to have this discussion without accurate data?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

How can school leadership work on the issue without breaking out the data?

For example, if a particular class has more absences than the norm, wouldn’t it be necessary to figure out why? Wouldn’t finding out why the students were absent be necessary before proposing a solution?

MCPS also needs to review its attendance reporting practices to ensure schools are collecting the data mandated by MSDE. Notes should be on file for excused absences so data can be collected as to why students were not present when excused.

Absolutely. Without understanding the data, this is really just useless.
The strategy to get one kid in school who is 17 and just hanging out at 7-11 instead of going to class is going to be very different than the supports a kid with a chronic health problem may need which are going to be very different from whta to do about a 9 year old who spends a month visiting family in another country each year.
How can they even begin to have this discussion without accurate data?

Then it’s up to the parent to communicate absences for the child with health issues and make sure the 17 year old goes to class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter just graduated from MCPS, and hardly went to school. her pediatrician even understood why she did not want to be in that environment, with drugs, verbal assaults , requests to sext etc ......she basicaly taught herself. She refused to return to private school.

MCPS did nothing ! Other than the daily call from a robot telling me my kid was absent, yes, I already knew ......no attendance plan, no calls from the grade chair, absolutely nothing. And passed.

The decline in MCPS is staggering.

DP. The environment in the schools is the key. There will continue to be absences because well behaved kids are tired of the the disruptions. Why show up to a place with constant fights, yelling teachers, drug use in the bathrooms, etc? I give my kids mental health days off and I will continue to do so. They are still A and B students.

The absentee problem is not just with kids that "need" to be there. It seems many prefer missing days just for the break. MCPS helpfully provides the number of days that can be missed.

You are the problem not solution. Get your kids a therapist and meducation if they need mental health days as something serious is going on.

LOL it is hard for you when you find out how smart other kids are, isn’t it?

This is a smart kid with smart parents. No child should be happy attending a school with constant disruptions. That is a normal, healthy response. Anyone in a continuing stressful situation like that should learn to take breaks. That is a healthy response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

How can school leadership work on the issue without breaking out the data?

For example, if a particular class has more absences than the norm, wouldn’t it be necessary to figure out why? Wouldn’t finding out why the students were absent be necessary before proposing a solution?

MCPS also needs to review its attendance reporting practices to ensure schools are collecting the data mandated by MSDE. Notes should be on file for excused absences so data can be collected as to why students were not present when excused.

Absolutely. Without understanding the data, this is really just useless.
The strategy to get one kid in school who is 17 and just hanging out at 7-11 instead of going to class is going to be very different than the supports a kid with a chronic health problem may need which are going to be very different from whta to do about a 9 year old who spends a month visiting family in another country each year.
How can they even begin to have this discussion without accurate data?

Then it’s up to the parent to communicate absences for the child with health issues and make sure the 17 year old goes to class.

I’m not understanding how you think your comment is constructive. The PP simply was highlighting the need for school administrators to break out the data in order to come up with appropriate solutions.

I had a child who was severely bullied in school, both verbally and physically. The bullying even moved to online postings in which the perpetrators were identifiable. I reported to school administrators along with screenshots of the posts but the principal simply stated the bullying was not occurring. Nothing was done to protect my child. The toxic climate eventually led to depression and difficulty attending school. Doctor notes were provided to the school but we were told my child didn’t qualify for support such as IIS because he could attend some school.

The reason a child is absent is the underlying problem that needs to be addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter just graduated from MCPS, and hardly went to school. her pediatrician even understood why she did not want to be in that environment, with drugs, verbal assaults , requests to sext etc ......she basicaly taught herself. She refused to return to private school.

MCPS did nothing ! Other than the daily call from a robot telling me my kid was absent, yes, I already knew ......no attendance plan, no calls from the grade chair, absolutely nothing. And passed.

The decline in MCPS is staggering.

DP. The environment in the schools is the key. There will continue to be absences because well behaved kids are tired of the the disruptions. Why show up to a place with constant fights, yelling teachers, drug use in the bathrooms, etc? I give my kids mental health days off and I will continue to do so. They are still A and B students.

The absentee problem is not just with kids that "need" to be there. It seems many prefer missing days just for the break. MCPS helpfully provides the number of days that can be missed.

You are the problem not solution. Get your kids a therapist and meducation if they need mental health days as something serious is going on.

LOL it is hard for you when you find out how smart other kids are, isn’t it?

This is a smart kid with smart parents. No child should be happy attending a school with constant disruptions. That is a normal, healthy response. Anyone in a continuing stressful situation like that should learn to take breaks. That is a healthy response.

Again, that is a parenting issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

How can school leadership work on the issue without breaking out the data?

For example, if a particular class has more absences than the norm, wouldn’t it be necessary to figure out why? Wouldn’t finding out why the students were absent be necessary before proposing a solution?

MCPS also needs to review its attendance reporting practices to ensure schools are collecting the data mandated by MSDE. Notes should be on file for excused absences so data can be collected as to why students were not present when excused.

Absolutely. Without understanding the data, this is really just useless.
The strategy to get one kid in school who is 17 and just hanging out at 7-11 instead of going to class is going to be very different than the supports a kid with a chronic health problem may need which are going to be very different from whta to do about a 9 year old who spends a month visiting family in another country each year.
How can they even begin to have this discussion without accurate data?

Then it’s up to the parent to communicate absences for the child with health issues and make sure the 17 year old goes to class.

I’m not understanding how you think your comment is constructive. The PP simply was highlighting the need for school administrators to break out the data in order to come up with appropriate solutions.

I had a child who was severely bullied in school, both verbally and physically. The bullying even moved to online postings in which the perpetrators were identifiable. I reported to school administrators along with screenshots of the posts but the principal simply stated the bullying was not occurring. Nothing was done to protect my child. The toxic climate eventually led to depression and difficulty attending school. Doctor notes were provided to the school but we were told my child didn’t qualify for support such as IIS because he could attend some school.

The reason a child is absent is the underlying problem that needs to be addressed.

This is mcps. Why doesn’t matter. It’s on you right or not to get your child in a better school environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic student absenteeism and the lack of a MCPS response is the purpose of this thread. If you want to start a different thread regarding teacher absenteeism then please have at it. However, just like any employer, MCPS has to honor legitimate reasons for teachers are absent. As a PP pointed out, just because a teacher is not in the classroom doesn’t mean they are not performing another job duty for MCPS.

Likewise, students are allowed excused absences. Doctor appointment or dental appointments would classify as an excused absence and would require a parental or provider note.

For students who are considered chronically absent, is there data on the percentage of excused absences vs. not excused? How many students are considered to be habitually truant?

Any word on when MCPS hopes to have a plan for addressing this problem?

Schools and leadership teams are working on this issue. The data is not currently broken out by excused absence vs not executed. Nor does it break out whether a kid is chronically missing some classes vs the whole day vs leaving early.

The data doesn’t need to be broken out by excused or unexcused, because it has no meaning. There are kids who have legitimate reasons for being absent who don’t know to get an excuse note, have parents who don’t speak English and don’t know how, or whose parents just won’t write one. Then there are parents who will write excuse notes all the time without really paying attention. (Yeah, Larla, you really are sick every week whenever there is a math quiz or test.)

If a student is chronically absent, especially the ones with more than 20% absences, they are missing a significant amount of instruction and opportunity to learn by working with peers. It also makes it really hard to plan engaging lessons where kids work together when 1/4 of kids are absent and another 1/4 aren’t prepared because they were absent earlier.

Students that truly have chronic illnesses should be utilizing one of the several other educational options like IIS, OPTG, or VA.

The data needs to be broken out because how you solve the problem could be varied. For example, there could be a group of students that never show up to school vs a group that always missed 1st period, vs group of students who miss one or two periods in the middle of the day(say3rd and 7th period). The first group are missing significant instruction and not showing up at all. The second group may have a transportation issue or something getting in the way or getting to school on time. The third group may be feeling disengaged because they need more support in the class than the teacher has time to give. Or it could point to something going on in school during those times that is pulling a kids interest out of where they should be.

Without the broken out data, you’re not asking good questions or approaching the problem with the best likelihood of resolution.

[Anonymous]

Lol. So you think the disengaged students should be catered to? Poor babies don’t think their classes are engaging enough so they skip them? Those parents are just as bad as the ones not making their kids go to school at all. The only ones I’d spend any time on are the ones who may not have transportation but chances are they do if they live more than a mile away from school. They actually need to wake up and get on the bus.