Reply to Chronic Absenteeism in APS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Weirdly I just looked at this same numbers! You mention a few schools but I think all APS schools have higher rates since the pandemic. No idea why the pandemic would change that. I just googled it and it is a nation-wide phenomenon. This article says that some reasons are, poor student mental health, staffing shortages, transportation issues, and housing instability. But also the pandemic fractured relationships between schools and parents, and parents got used to the idea that school doesn't have to be in-person from 9-3 every day. Interesting stuff.

https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/missing-students-chronic-absenteeism/index.html[/quote]

My kids aren’t in those schools but another local district. We had the hardest time with our oldest last year.  Think of it like adults who didn’t want to go back to the office full time when they got used to working remotely- same thing.  There are lots of reasons for absenteeism and/or school refusal but one for older teens is that they don’t see the value of sitting there in a room all day when it’s all online.  We didn’t have this with our younger kids who wanted to go back.  Our oldest is happier this year, with a modified schedule where he can sleep in and then take some classes virtually.   He’s still completely his classes and we don’t have to deal with school refusal.   It took us a while to understand his point of view, but then again, DH works from home and can’t imagine going back to the office daily either.  [/quote]
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 [u]bare minimum[/u] 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.[/quote]

You are saying that economically disadvantaged kids have parents who are doing bare minimum parenting and white parents are not. So, be careful there. Also, if you are economically disadvantaged, you are more likely to be sick, have transportation problems, mental health issues, and language barriers with the school. Furthermore, why would people be worse parents after the pandemic? That is not a racial issue.

Also, my kids were chronically absent during elementary school. Elementary school was pretty darned pointless for them, honestly, especially post pandemic. School made them miserable and yes I let them stay home a decent amount. Between that and sick days they missed maybe 20-25 days a year. Now they are in middle and high school and I no longer let them stay home because school actually matters. But the point is that teens are not the only ones facing mental health challenges because of school. [/quote]
If your kids suffered no ill effects from missing that much school, then super.  Great for your family.  But do you think that this has the same impact on a kid from a non-english speaking household?  If that kid doesn't go to school, how on earth will he or she acquire the basic language skills to succeed in today's world?  I know first hand that life is harder for poor people and immigrants, for many more reasons than you listed.  But by not making sure your kids go to school, you doom them to life no better, and likely worse than your's.  And yes... that is a parenting failure.[/quote]

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