Chronic absenteeism among students at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) dropped 2.7% when compared to this time during the last school year, officials said during Thursday’s Board of Education business meeting.
“We have made a dent,” said Damon Monteleone, associate superintendent. “This is very much a work in progress. There is still more to do.”
Attendance in kindergarten through middle school has dropped. However, chronic absenteeism among high school students rose from 28.97% last school year to the current 30.02%.
Student Member of the Board Sami Saeed said high school students have the mindset that nothing is going to happen if they don’t go to school. The policy is “one without any teeth,” he said.
Chronic absenteeism occurs when a student misses 10% or more classes or has 18 or more absences.
According to MCPS data, as of mid-April, chronic absenteeism dropped from 25.91% to 23.28%.
When young students are chronically absent, they fall behind in reading by the third grade and continue to struggle from here, Monteleone said. When they are often absent by the sixth grade, their chances of graduating decrease, he said.
Students are most likely to come to school when they establish positive relationships with their teachers and when they feel respected by teachers and included in the curriculum, according to Monteleone.
MCPS staff strives to encourage rather than punish chronically absent students, according to several administrators who spoke during the BOE discussion. Finding out why students don’t attend and what can be done to help is more effective than giving students bad grades or flunking them, the administrators said.
BOE member Julie Young pointed out that the high schools with the highest absenteeism have the highest percentages of Black and Brown students and students whose first language is not English.
Several BOE members pointed to use of cell phones making it easier to make plans as well as off campus lunch programs where students may not return to class as areas to be studied. “Is there are a correlation?” asked BOE member Grace Rivera-Oven.
“There’s got to be a reason why you are going to class,” said Board President Karla Silvestre. Students say they need a mental health day, or they know their teacher will be absent or they already have a good grade, so why do they have to attend, she said.
“There’s no consequences to help the parents” convince their children to go to school, she said. “I know there is no easy answer, but we’ve got to get our students in their seats.”
Tuesday’s meeting marked the last one that will be held at the historic Carver Education Services Center. In the future, BOE meetings will be held at 15 West Gude Drive, in a building the BOE is leasing to consolidate MCPS administrative offices.
Attendance matters. If we want to truly tackle the chronic absenteeism crisis in our schools, we need student accountability, which takes form in a comprehensive attendance policy with consequences for unexcused absences. pic.twitter.com/6rVbJ1jUCx
— Sami Saeed (@SamitheSMOB) May 10, 2024
