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

[Anonymous]

We need to stop expecting the school to fix all of society's problems. THis is a family problem. That needs to be addressed and remedied by the family, not the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This issue is a huge part of the gaps in education weaning student groups. A student usually doesn’t learn well unless they are in school. The worst are the parents that go on vacation for a month in a home country in mid fall and late winter when plane tickets are cheap.

Especially when they claimed asylum based on fear for their life...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to see some more nuanced data on this. Are they saying 18 full days? What do the parents say when contacted? How many can't be reached, versus how many say they didn't know, versus how many say that there was a good reason, versus how many say that their kid is out of control and there's nothing they can do?

At a lot of schools, the attendance records aren't accurate because subs don't keep them correctly or teachers can't correct them for tardies. Also some parents don't bother to write notes when a kid is coming in late after an orthodontist appointment or similar appointment, because no one really cares about that.

My understanding from our MCPS school is that this includes excused absences such as due to illness - meaning we were contacted about this for our elementary schooler who has only 2 unexcused absences the entire year (due to family travel) but 20 excused absences due to the constant illness circulating everywhere. So I’d like to see a better breakdown of how many kids are “chronically absent” based on unexcused absences before deciding whether this warrants the level of concern it seems to be provoking.

This.

If you have kids who tend to get sick easily, suffer from a chronic illness or migraines, have frequent appointments (dental, braces, therapists), etc. then you’ll notice absences. Throw in travel or family functions and the # of days add up quickly.

You know who has ridiculously strict truancy laws? Texas. Do you really want to be like Texas?

If you have kids who get sick that easily (seriously 20/180 days?), then maybe you should skip the travel.

[Anonymous]

FOX5 DC has followed up with their own reporting: https://www.fox5dc.com/news/montgomery-county-public-schools-developing-plan-to-address-above-average-truancy-rates-mcps

Apparently, MCPS has surveyed students and these are the reasons why they aren't showing up to school:

Students got very comfortable taking classes at home during the pandemic, and it has been very difficult to return to in-person instruction.
Better teacher-student relationships would increase students’ motivation to attend school.
Students feel they need breaks from the academic stress of school, including regularly-scheduled mental health days or days designed to simply catch up.
In-person instruction during the day does not work for all students, many of whom have to work or have other family responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FOX5 DC has followed up with their own reporting: https://www.fox5dc.com/news/montgomery-county-public-schools-developing-plan-to-address-above-average-truancy-rates-mcps

Apparently, MCPS has surveyed students and these are the reasons why they aren't showing up to school:

Students got very comfortable taking classes at home during the pandemic, and it has been very difficult to return to in-person instruction.

Better teacher-student relationships would increase students’ motivation to attend school.

Students feel they need breaks from the academic stress of school, including regularly-scheduled mental health days or days designed to simply catch up.

In-person instruction during the day does not work for all students, many of whom have to work or have other family responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

Sorry. Formatting lists in quotes apparently is hellish for the forum code. Here it is cleanly:

Students got very comfortable taking classes at home during the pandemic, and it has been very difficult to return to in-person instruction.

Better teacher-student relationships would increase students’ motivation to attend school.

Students feel they need breaks from the academic stress of school, including regularly-scheduled mental health days or days designed to simply catch up.

In-person instruction during the day does not work for all students, many of whom have to work or have other family responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

Basically, they have shitty parents who can't take care of their own kids. They expect them to work to help pay bills and babysit siblings.

[Anonymous]

Students’ reasons for not wanting to attend school in person sound quite similar to workers not wanting to return to the office

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry. Formatting lists in quotes apparently is hellish for the forum code. Here it is cleanly:

Students got very comfortable taking classes at home during the pandemic, and it has been very difficult to return to in-person instruction.

Better teacher-student relationships would increase students’ motivation to attend school.

Students feel they need breaks from the academic stress of school, including regularly-scheduled mental health days or days designed to simply catch up.

In-person instruction during the day does not work for all students, many of whom have to work or have other family responsibilities.

• The sign up for virtual academy
• Go to class and participate and they’ll have better teacher student relationships. Additional staffing is needed in some places.
• I agree that a better schedule is needed but for some reason teacher and parents seem to be against the ideas that would give them one.
• That’s what alternative programs, GED, and night school have traditionally been for.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, the kids' reasons are BS excuses. They basically do it because we let them. If we didn't, they wouldn't do it. End of story.

Teens will always push the boundaries of what's possible. If you give them an inch, they'll take a mile.

It's time to crack down and put some teeth behind the attendance policy. All it will take to get kids back in line is for a few of them to hear of the consequences of some kids who loss credit for a class or get held back for missing school too many times and they'll go back to attending class like they did pre-pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Students’ reasons for not wanting to attend school in person sound quite similar to workers not wanting to return to the office

Uh, not really. Adult workers who don't want to return to the office, have more legitimate reasons, which include:

1. Saving on commute money and time
2. Being available to take care of childcare and household duties
3. Flexibility to work during off-peak hours

Kids don't have any expense for their commute. They either walk or a bus is provided for them free of charge.

They aren't staying at home to do virtual school to take care of anyone for the most. Low-income families might have older kids who do that but that's not the circumstance for the vast majority of kids of who are skipping. And they're definitely not scrubbing down the bathrooms and catching up on laundry.

Kids aren't skipping school to make up their schoolwork during off-peak hours. They're skipping class, not doing work and running around in the streets doing at best, just goofing off and hanging out, and at worst, committing crimes.

I'm not seeing the overlap here that you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to see some more nuanced data on this. Are they saying 18 full days? What do the parents say when contacted? How many can't be reached, versus how many say they didn't know, versus how many say that there was a good reason, versus how many say that their kid is out of control and there's nothing they can do?

At a lot of schools, the attendance records aren't accurate because subs don't keep them correctly or teachers can't correct them for tardies. Also some parents don't bother to write notes when a kid is coming in late after an orthodontist appointment or similar appointment, because no one really cares about that.

My understanding from our MCPS school is that this includes excused absences such as due to illness - meaning we were contacted about this for our elementary schooler who has only 2 unexcused absences the entire year (due to family travel) but 20 excused absences due to the constant illness circulating everywhere. So I’d like to see a better breakdown of how many kids are “chronically absent” based on unexcused absences before deciding whether this warrants the level of concern it seems to be provoking.

This.

If you have kids who tend to get sick easily, suffer from a chronic illness or migraines, have frequent appointments (dental, braces, therapists), etc. then you’ll notice absences. Throw in travel or family functions and the # of days add up quickly.

You know who has ridiculously strict truancy laws? Texas. Do you really want to be like Texas?

If you have kids who get sick that easily (seriously 20/180 days?), then maybe you should skip the travel.

RSV, strep, flu, Covid, strep again, plus throw in a couple of colds. Bam, 20 days. Also not skipping the minimal travel. Illness in 2023 ain’t like illness in 2019. Hopefully 2024 is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FOX5 DC has followed up with their own reporting: https://www.fox5dc.com/news/montgomery-county-public-schools-developing-plan-to-address-above-average-truancy-rates-mcps

Apparently, MCPS has surveyed students and these are the reasons why they aren't showing up to school:

Students got very comfortable taking classes at home during the pandemic, and it has been very difficult to return to in-person instruction.
Better teacher-student relationships would increase students’ motivation to attend school.
Students feel they need breaks from the academic stress of school, including regularly-scheduled mental health days or days designed to simply catch up.
In-person instruction during the day does not work for all students, many of whom have to work or have other family responsibilities.

This is a parenting issue. Plenty of kids are still virtual and attend daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students’ reasons for not wanting to attend school in person sound quite similar to workers not wanting to return to the office

Uh, not really. Adult workers who don't want to return to the office, have more legitimate reasons, which include:

1. Saving on commute money and time
2. Being available to take care of childcare and household duties
3. Flexibility to work during off-peak hours

Kids don't have any expense for their commute. They either walk or a bus is provided for them free of charge.

They aren't staying at home to do virtual school to take care of anyone for the most. Low-income families might have older kids who do that but that's not the circumstance for the vast majority of kids of who are skipping. And they're definitely not scrubbing down the bathrooms and catching up on laundry.

Kids aren't skipping school to make up their schoolwork during off-peak hours. They're skipping class, not doing work and running around in the streets doing at best, just goofing off and hanging out, and at worst, committing crimes.

I'm not seeing the overlap here that you are.

What’s wrong with adults working at home and that’s irrelevant. Some of our kids are still virtual but as a parent we can monitor them better.

And, some parents due to the walk or bus ride drive their kids. We have always had to drive ours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, the kids' reasons are BS excuses. They basically do it because we let them. If we didn't, they wouldn't do it. End of story.

Teens will always push the boundaries of what's possible. If you give them an inch, they'll take a mile.

It's time to crack down and put some teeth behind the attendance policy. All it will take to get kids back in line is for a few of them to hear of the consequences of some kids who loss credit for a class or get held back for missing school too many times and they'll go back to attending class like they did pre-pandemic.

Agree but parents need to step up and parent.