Chronic Absenteeism in APS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do we get the stats on chronic teacher absenteeism to compare to the student absenteeism?

You won't, because there's no comparison.

share your data.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Not a shocking change for Jamestown or Oakridge. HUGE for Drew and Wakefield. Why are these kids missing so much school?[/quote]

Mom of a chronically absent Drew kid. COVID (5 days) + strep (2 days) + cold (2 days) + throw up virus (3 days).

His classmate: COVID + flu + COVID was at least 15 days. Other classmate: COVID + strep + strep + throw up bug

No one is pulling their kids for the fun of it. Illnesses hit hard last year.

[Anonymous]

Any why south Arlington got hit harder? More people in smaller spaces with more public facing jobs.. I am sure some kids skipped school, but from what I saw of a large, diverse bus stop of south Arlington kids is that they were just constantly sick.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not a shocking change for Jamestown or Oakridge. HUGE for Drew and Wakefield. Why are these kids missing so much school?[/quote]

Mom of a chronically absent Drew kid. COVID (5 days) + strep (2 days) + cold (2 days) + throw up virus (3 days).

His classmate: COVID + flu + COVID was at least 15 days. Other classmate: COVID + strep + strep + throw up bug

No one is pulling their kids for the fun of it. Illnesses hit hard last year.[/quote]
I believe you need 18 days to qualify as "chronically absent".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior.

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this. People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays. One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior.

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this. People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays. One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!

I will be pulling my kids the Monday — Wednesday the week before Christmas. In any given year in ES, we pulled five days for a vacation in February. Now with one in MS, we haven’t but will for that week so we can visit both sides of the family. But if mine were still in ES I’d be much more likely to pull them. COVID showed us how little is done each week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior.

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this. People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays. One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!

I will be pulling my kids the Monday — Wednesday the week before Christmas. In any given year in ES, we pulled five days for a vacation in February. Now with one in MS, we haven’t but will for that week so we can visit both sides of the family. But if mine were still in ES I’d be much more likely to pull them. COVID showed us how little is done each week.

I also think the new calendar with a ton of holidays off doesn’t help. It sends the message that education isn’t always a priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior.

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this. People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays. One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!

I will be pulling my kids the Monday — Wednesday the week before Christmas. In any given year in ES, we pulled five days for a vacation in February. Now with one in MS, we haven’t but will for that week so we can visit both sides of the family. But if mine were still in ES I’d be much more likely to pull them. COVID showed us how little is done each week.

I also think the new calendar with a ton of holidays off doesn’t help. It sends the message that education isn’t always a priority.

I'm reading this from the beach where we are taking an extra day on the long weekend because why not? That week in November with Election Day and Veterans Day is looking very attractive as well. My elementary age kids aren't missing anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior.

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this. People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays. One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!

I will be pulling my kids the Monday — Wednesday the week before Christmas. In any given year in ES, we pulled five days for a vacation in February. Now with one in MS, we haven’t but will for that week so we can visit both sides of the family. But if mine were still in ES I’d be much more likely to pull them. COVID showed us how little is done each week.

I also think the new calendar with a ton of holidays off doesn’t help. It sends the message that education isn’t always a priority.

I'm reading this from the beach where we are taking an extra day on the long weekend because why not? That week in November with Election Day and Veterans Day is looking very attractive as well. My elementary age kids aren't missing anything.

Not a damn thing. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior.

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this. People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays. One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!

I will be pulling my kids the Monday — Wednesday the week before Christmas. In any given year in ES, we pulled five days for a vacation in February. Now with one in MS, we haven’t but will for that week so we can visit both sides of the family. But if mine were still in ES I’d be much more likely to pull them. COVID showed us how little is done each week.

I also think the new calendar with a ton of holidays off doesn’t help. It sends the message that education isn’t always a priority.

This makes sense. Parents like to take advantage of long weekends and it's easy to rationalize that missing one day is no big deal.
However, this seems a logical contributing factor to overall absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism would mean the same kid is taking an extended break on all those holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior.

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this. People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays. One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!

I will be pulling my kids the Monday — Wednesday the week before Christmas. In any given year in ES, we pulled five days for a vacation in February. Now with one in MS, we haven’t but will for that week so we can visit both sides of the family. But if mine were still in ES I’d be much more likely to pull them. COVID showed us how little is done each week.

I also think the new calendar with a ton of holidays off doesn’t help. It sends the message that education isn’t always a priority.

This makes sense. Parents like to take advantage of long weekends and it's easy to rationalize that missing one day is no big deal.
However, this seems a logical contributing factor to overall absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism would mean the same kid is taking an extended break on all those holidays.

What message do you think it sends to kids, their classmates, and their teachers when parents pull them "out for vacations like crazy" as noted earlier? I think the message is clear: school isn't a priority. Along with the individual learning a child misses, I wonder if parents realize how a child's absence affects a classroom's ecosystem. Many times, a lot of learning takes place among students themselves -- during group work or projects for instance. Absences cause such a hassle for teachers. It takes time to manage make-up work and help the child get caught up on concepts and learning.... It's a major time suck. Multiply that by 5 or 6 kids and that's hours.

As a matter of respect for the teacher, classmates, and the institution of school itself, don't parents have a responsibility to ensure their kids are in class?

This article talks about the reasons for the absentee crisis and how to address it: https://raisingamericans.substack.com/p/realcleareducation-why-american-students

[Anonymous]

So many dang holidays off. People are leveraging long weekends out of town. Either because can’t find childcare so travel to relatives for care or vacay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior.

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this. People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays. One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!

I will be pulling my kids the Monday — Wednesday the week before Christmas. In any given year in ES, we pulled five days for a vacation in February. Now with one in MS, we haven’t but will for that week so we can visit both sides of the family. But if mine were still in ES I’d be much more likely to pull them. COVID showed us how little is done each week.

I also think the new calendar with a ton of holidays off doesn’t help. It sends the message that education isn’t always a priority.

This makes sense. Parents like to take advantage of long weekends and it's easy to rationalize that missing one day is no big deal.
However, this seems a logical contributing factor to overall absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism would mean the same kid is taking an extended break on all those holidays.

What message do you think it sends to kids, their classmates, and their teachers when parents pull them "out for vacations like crazy" as noted earlier? I think the message is clear: school isn't a priority. Along with the individual learning a child misses, I wonder if parents realize how a child's absence affects a classroom's ecosystem. Many times, a lot of learning takes place among students themselves -- during group work or projects for instance. Absences cause such a hassle for teachers. It takes time to manage make-up work and help the child get caught up on concepts and learning.... It's a major time suck. Multiply that by 5 or 6 kids and that's hours.

As a matter of respect for the teacher, classmates, and the institution of school itself, don't parents have a responsibility to ensure their kids are in class?

This article talks about the reasons for the absentee crisis and how to address it: https://raisingamericans.substack.com/p/realcleareducation-why-american-students

Completely agree.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but no one is *chronically* absent due to vacations. The numbers point to high FRL schools in SA. I promise these kids aren’t heading to Disney every other week.

Try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I can buy this argument for teens. But many of the schools at the top of the list for absenteeism are elementary schools. This is a failure of parents to do the bare minimum to ensure that their children get an education. The numbers show that nearly 30% of economically disadvantaged kids in APS are chronically absent, while only 7.5% of white kids are. How on earth is the achievement gap suppose to be closed with numbers like this? No homework or grading policy will ever be able to make up the difference.

I teach elementary school. What's changed since prepandemic in my school at least is that kids are sick more often now. It's only early October and we've already had two waves of illness run through our school (low income school if it matters). Parents are not keeping their kids home for no reason - they are sick, they get sent to school, then they have a fever or feel bad or throw up and parents come pick them up. I've had many students out already 5-6 days which is more than 10% of the number of days we've been in school.