Many NC students are still missing weeks of school. How some school systems are trying to get them back in

One in four North Carolina students — 417,000 kids — was “chronically absent” from school during the 2022-23 school year, state data show.

2024-08-15

It’s an improvement from the year before, when about one in three kids was chronically absent; North Carolina actually made some of the biggest progress among U.S. states, data gathered by the Associated Press shows.

But it still means hundreds of thousands of students missed at least 10% of the school year — in other words, missing at least three and a half weeks of school.

It’s part of an ongoing national trend of students just not showing up to school as much as they used to before the Covid-19 pandemic pushed students home for as long as a year or more of remote learning; nationwide, about one in four kids was chronically absent, as well, that year. In North Carolina and nationwide before the pandemic, just about one in seven students missed that much school.

Educators and other observers say more kids are feeling overwhelmed by school or overly cautious about illness, but also that some parents and students just don’t take school attendance as seriously anymore. Homelessness is rising, throwing a wrench into how a student commutes to school.

A new report from the University of Southern California shows a link between children’s mental health and chronic absenteeism. It found that a quarter of students on pace to be chronically absent last school year scored highly on a survey about behavioral problems, such as depression, hyperactivity and fighting with others.

Experts say not going to school can harm students academically, and chronically absent students are more likely to drop out.

The trend is prompting North Carolina school systems to intervene to get students back in school, in positive and punitive ways.

In interviews with WRAL News, school leaders described trying to make school more inviting and talking with families more — offering attendance rewards and creating more events for families to re-engage with school. But they also have turned toward instituting more punishments for students who are missing school and even for parents who they claim aren’t helping, turning toward a state law that allows parents to be arrested and charged for not sending their children to school.

“We definitely don't want to see any parent in jail for student attendance and truancy, but… at that point we pretty much have exhausted all of our resources and assistance, and the cooperation may not be there,” said Jamar Perry, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and student and family services at Granville County Schools.

The school system didn’t generally refer families to court during the pandemic or shortly after. But last year, the school board voted to make sure all of the language of the law was written into the board’s policy books, too, and devised punishments for students. The school system also began offering rewards for attendance, including classroom parties.

Publicly available data on chronic absenteeism from the most recent school year isn’t yet available, but principals’ monthly enrollment and attendance reports suggest student attendance is getting better, in Granville County Schools and across North Carolina.

For the 2018-19 school year — the last full year before the Covid-19 pandemic — average daily attendance statewide was 94.7%. During the 2022-23 school year, it was just 92%, up from 91.3% the year before. A brief look at principals’ monthly reports — which contain most, but not all, attendance metrics — shows attendance may have gone up again during the 2023-24 school year, but by less than a percentage point. Official numbers, including for chronic absenteeism, won’t be released for months.

In Cumberland County, leaders believe interventions have helped but also that families have gotten back into routines that are helping kids get to school.

“I think parents are trying to get back in the routine prior to Covid,” said Beverly Young, truancy support specialist with Cumberland County Schools.

Anecdotal insights from year-round schools have been positive so far this school year.

“I think parents are starting to get that message, particularly in the year round schools,” said Pamela Story, social work coordinator and homeless liaison with Cumberland County Schools. “We met with them the other day, they did indicate that they're not seeing a lot of absences at this particular time.”

Taking new approaches

The attendance issues have prompted changes in many school systems.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that schools had taken a range of measures, including a Massachusetts high school offering recess to students who attended all of their classes and Oakland, Calif., schools using a grant to offer $50 per week to students with perfect attendance who also contested to having a mentor and weekly mental health assessments.

Back in North Carolina, in Cumberland County, the school board revised its policies to limit the number of times a parent can excuse their child’s absence to just 10 times and required the excuse notes to be submitted within five days of the absence. The policy also states that students who miss too much school may be held back in elementary grades or denied course credit in higher grade levels, if they have 20 or more unexcused absences.

In Granville County, the school board adopted attendance goals in its new three-year strategic plan and created consequences for chronic absenteeism, such as weekend detention and loss of extracurricular or event participation. The revised policy also allows a principal to fail or reduce the grade of a student if they miss more than five days of a class without an excuse. The school system restarted its District Attendance Committee. It’s also begun class, grade-level and school-level attendance awards that can result in class parties.

With all of those efforts going on, Granville County Schools Spokesman Stan Winborne said elementary and middle schools hit or got close to hitting 96.5% average daily attendance — the district’s goal. High schools saw gains but not to as high of attendance levels.

On thing that can help improve school attendance is to give students something to look forward to, experts say.

At the YMCA, leaders have found that after school programs can help students’ attendance, because they look forward to the after school programs, said Kim Keith, Vice President of youth development for YMCA of the Triangle.

A good after school program can also help kids make friends that they can then re-connect with during the schoolday, helping them be more engaged in school.

But even the YMCA has had to rethink how it offers its programs after the Covid-19 pandemic, Keith said.

People now desire more flexibility. So while the YMCA still offers after school care five days per week for the entire school year, it now offers people the ability to sign up for less than that, in case they don’t need care all of those days.

Addressing root causes

A common concern among leaders is that children aren’t handling their stress well, either choosing to avoid school or feeling sick when they are dreading school too much. Experts caution parents to look for patterns whenever their children are feeling sick or any time their child doesn’t want to go to school.

“When you see a child is not wanting to attend school, is it on the same day of the week every week?” Keith said. “Is there something that you could connect those feelings towards? Certainly trying to talk to their child about how they're feeling [helps].”

Keith said anxiety is sometimes keeping kids out of school.

“We're just seeing a lot more just general anxiety behavioral challenges where kids aren't able to express what's bothering them, or they're not able to problem solve or work out a solution with someone, and so results in frustration and anger and just challenges in coming to kind of a peaceful resolution when they're in conflict with a peer, or when they're not able to communicate what they need to the adult who's caring for them,” Keith said.

Counselors and social workers help with those things, said Perry, the Granville County Schools administrator.

Routine is also critical.

Perry said it’s easier for kids to catch their bus if they have a consistent morning routine and are able to get as ready as possible for school the night before.

That’s the top advice he offers to families who are struggling to get their kids in school often enough.

“Making sure that we put our clothes out at night so we're ready to go in the morning,” Perry said, creating “less chaos for families in the morning.”

People worried about illness can consult with the school nurse or their pediatrician about whether their child needs to stay home, Perry said.

Social workers’ home visits can help discern why a child isn’t able to come to school more often, Young said.

Young and Story also remind families when they visits that the state requires children under 16 years old to go to school and that parents can be charged if they don’t try to help their children get to school. That’s a last resort, Story said. Visits, conversations and mediation come first.

“We're trying to be supportive,” Story said. “We've got social, emotional learning in place. We've got universal screeners. We've got all kinds of interventions, but… it is ultimately the parents’ responsibility.”