Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

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.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think one reason for the additional absences is that people are more aware that they should stay home (or keep their kids home) when they are stick, like until 24 hours after you vomited, had diarrhea, or started antibiotics, etc.

Are certain demographics more likely to stay home when they’re sick? Not sure your explanation holds much weight.

I do think illness may have been a big part of it, but you're right that the really big numbers are for the most part at lower SES schools so there must be other factors.

Anonymous wrote: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

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.

Anonymous wrote:I would think one reason for the additional absences is that people are more aware that they should stay home (or keep their kids home) when they are stick, like until 24 hours after you vomited, had diarrhea, or started antibiotics, etc.

Are certain demographics more likely to stay home when they’re sick? Not sure your explanation holds much weight.

I would think one reason for the additional absences is that people are more aware that they should stay home (or keep their kids home) when they are stick, like until 24 hours after you vomited, had diarrhea, or started antibiotics, etc.

Here are the full set of numbers for 2022-2023
Arlington Community High 59.07
Wakefield High 27.63
Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary 23.66
Randolph Elementary 21.76
Abingdon Elementary 21.12
Campbell Elementary 19.41
Washington-Liberty High 18.85
Claremont Immersion 18.83
Kenmore Middle 16.42
Barrett Elementary 15.54
Barcroft Elementary 15.15
Yorktown High 14.65
Jefferson Middle 13.39
Carlin Springs Elementary 12.84
Oakridge Elementary 12.8
Innovation Elementary 12.67
Alice West Fleet Elementary 12.18
Hoffman-Boston Elementary 10.7
Gunston Middle 10.43
Long Branch Elementary 10.31
Discovery Elementary 9.94
Glebe Elementary 7.46
Swanson Middle 6.18
Dorothy Hamm Middle 6.01
Montessori Public School of Arlington 5.01
Williamsburg Middle 4.48
Taylor Elementary 4.02
Jamestown Elementary 3.65
Ashlawn Elementary 3.02
Escuela Key Elementary 2.93
Arlington Science Focus School 2.51
Cardinal Elementary 2.14
Tuckahoe Elementary 1.86
Arlington Traditional 1.77
Nottingham Elementary 0.52

Anonymous wrote:
OP - did Gunston see similar rises? They all feed into each other so I am curious.

Gunston went from 5.64% to 10.43%

I wonder if the situation at Wakefield is a result of kids who were barely getting before the pandemic tried to go back post pandemic but were so far behind at that point that school became overwhelming and they figured why bother since they may have felt they could never catch up.

Anonymous wrote:I do think it has a lot do with the pandemic. I live nextdoor to Drew and Wakefield is my neighborhood school. You had kids that basically didn't see school from March 2020 to Aug 2021. So I am not that surprised that the numbers increased, although obviously that is huge.

I know APS is aware. I mean they already had an "attendance week" (I think last week). And I know our principal said they have been receiving a lot of pressure to decrease absentee rates (and tardies). But I don't know how much the school can realy do short of dragging kids to school.

OP - did Gunston see similar rises? They all feed into each other so I am curious.

You can see the stats for all APS schools here:https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/divisions/arlington-county-public-schools

Here is gunston. Chronic absenteeism went from 5 percent pre-pandemic to 10 percent now. https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/gunston-middle

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

I do think it has a lot do with the pandemic. I live nextdoor to Drew and Wakefield is my neighborhood school. You had kids that basically didn't see school from March 2020 to Aug 2021. So I am not that surprised that the numbers increased, although obviously that is huge.

I know APS is aware. I mean they already had an "attendance week" (I think last week). And I know our principal said they have been receiving a lot of pressure to decrease absentee rates (and tardies). But I don't know how much the school can realy do short of dragging kids to school.

OP - did Gunston see similar rises? They all feed into each other so I am curious.

Not a shocking change for Jamestown or Oakridge. HUGE for Drew and Wakefield. Why are these kids missing so much school?

The mentions of shocking amounts of chronic student absenteeism (defined as children absent 10% or more of the time) sent me into a rabbit hole. I looked up the numbers at various schools via https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/, and found some strange trends. The 2018-2019 school year absenteeism numbers are significantly lower than the 2022-2023 numbers measuring chronic absenteeism. Examples:

Jamestown - 2.29% in 2019, 3.65% in 2023
Wakefield - 18.46% in 2019, 27.63% in 2023
Drew - 6.09% in 2019, 23.66% in 2023
Oakridge - 8.38% in 2019, 12.8% in 2023

The 2021-2022 numbers, which you would have expected to be higher than pre-pandemic, due to quarantine rules, weren't much higher than 2018-2019. Was there a change in methodology? Why are the numbers so different?