Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% of the school year or more, which for DPS, is missing 18 days or more in this school year, if the student is enrolled in the entire school year, said Rebekka Rodgers, attendance support specialist at DPS.
“We know that improved attendance leads to improved academic achievement and performance,” she said.
Rodgers said the chronic absenteeism rate in DPS followed a national trend.
“But the good news is it’s been steadily improving for the last few years,” she said.
The five buildings with the highest chronic absenteeism rate this past semester were Mount St Academy, at 83%; Dunbar High School at 66%; Belmont High School at 65%; Rosa Parks Early Learning Center at 61% and Thurgood Marshall High School at 59%.
The five buildings with the lowest chronic absenteeism rates from this past semester are River’s Edge Montessori Elementary at 11%, Belle Haven Elementary at 16%, Eastmont Elementary at 21%, Stivers School for the Arts at 24% and Kemp Elementary at 26%.
In response to a question from board member William Bailey about what the district’s plans next are, Rodgers said, “I would say both stay the course and start thinking more outside the box because that’s what’s necessary to get us back to those pre pandemic levels.”
Rodgers said students got used to not coming to school when the COVID-19 pandemic forced many schools to close, and noted some students may also feel anxious about coming to school. Dayton Public had one of the longest closures in the area, with the district’s buildings closed from March 2020 to March 2021.
Rodgers also said she thought the improvements in transportation were helping get more kids to school.
Board president Will Smith said he had seen more people unwilling to consistently come to work and wondered if it might be a mindset shift.
“Is there a way that we can even start having those kinds of conversations about how that that mindset trickles down to education?” he asked.
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