School Absenteeism: Fea’s Impact On Attendance Improvement

Sayen Elementary saw its persistent absence prices leap from 7.2% to 15.1% in between 2018-19 and 2022-23 as an outcome of the pandemic, Vasil said. By the 2024-25 academic year, nevertheless, that figure dropped listed below prepandemic degrees to 6.2%.

Addressing Persistent Absenteeism After Pandemic

Currie and Kisthardt Elementary School Principal Diana Vasil shared how the FEA’s partnership with Hamilton Territory Public Schools added to a long-term decrease in persistent absenteeism rates during a Friday session at UNITED, the National Seminar on School Leadership in Seattle.

FEA’s Strategy: Training and Team Building

FEA hired instructors to satisfy monthly with every institution to assist resolve their chronic absence prices, Currie stated. FEA trained the trainers ahead of time on finest methods in English language arts and math, legal expertise on society, environment and presence, and data analysis, she added.

Vasil said that the group had the ability to satisfy their goals during the pandemic by tightening up the school and reviewing’s mission declaration, combining the school’s numerous scattered SEL programs, and establishing a set of professional norms for team conferences to ensure everybody has a voice.

FEA aided each college determine participants for their very own “Be There Team,” a team focused on school climate and participation. The groups often included institution leaders, nurses, teachers and therapists, Currie claimed. The FEA instructors met these teams to identify student target groups and establish activity plans based on Participation Works’ tiered technique for dealing with chronic absence.

Throughout the first academic year of the program’s application in 2018-19, Currie said, attendance rose while chronic absenteeism dropped significantly. That pattern continued into the very first term of the 2019-20 academic year up until the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020. When the pandemic hit, FEA changed its plan and shifted all of its conferences to be digital events with coaches and headquarters managers.

The area’s persistent absence price dropped by 3.9% in between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 school years– a decrease from 18.4% to 15.2%, claimed Vasil. RAND Corp. and the Center on Reinventing Public Education and learning estimated that 19% of trainees were persistantly missing across the country during the 2023-24 school year.

Improving School Climate and Culture

As the team worked toward enhancing the institution’s climate, moms and dads talked to the institution about what they desired in the mission declaration. Educators developed their own standards in meetings, and students shared what SEL activities and programs they suched as, Vasil claimed.

Mary Beth Currie, special projects planner at the New Jacket Principals and Supervisors Organization, right, provides at the UNITED meeting on July 11, 2025, in Seattle, Wash., with Kisthardt Grade School Principal Diana Vasil.
Anna Merod/K -12 Dive

To better comprehend the origin of the institution’s attendance trouble, Vasil’s group did a deep dive scoring their school’s climate utilizing a rubric and found there was a great deal of work required to enhance institution society. In 2019-20, the team determined three locations they required to address: the college’s goal declaration, its social-emotional discovering programs and expert standards for personnel, she said.

With the help of a grant-funded initiative at the association’s Structure for Educational Administration, Hamilton Area Public Schools at some point transformed program. Since June 2025, only two of its 23 schools go beyond the statewide average for persistent absenteeism, Currie said.

Throughout the 2016-17 academic year, 21 of the district’s 23 institutions went beyond the state’s ordinary persistent absenteeism rates, stated Mary Beth Currie, coordinator of unique tasks at the New Jacket Principals and Supervisors Organization.

In 2018, FEA received a $10,000 grant from the Princeton Location Community Structure to produce a strategy to deal with chronic absence in the area, Currie said. Later that year, FEA got an additional five-year $30,000 give from the structure to execute the plan throughout all 23 colleges at Hamilton Township.

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Due to this work, Vasil said, the school saw a much more positive environment and culture, especially after the pandemic, which was a vital variable for boosting participation. She added that one more factor to the school’s success in dealing with persistent absenteeism was the institution’s ability to check student presence over time and by quality degree. The FEA coaches, community collaborations and improved communication with families additionally aided, she claimed.

Impact of Coaching on Attendance

As Vasil’s team checked out exactly how to attend to the school’s persistent absence prices, she said, it was important to keep in mind that repairing participation isn’t almost obtaining students in the door. “It’s getting them to intend to come tomorrow.”

When trainees went back to in-person courses in 2021-22, participation decreased in line with nationwide patterns, Currie said. Yet as the in-person coaching and team meetings selected back up, presence began to rebound once more in 2023-24 as did the area’s climate and culture, she added.

FEA assisted each institution determine members for their very own “Be There Team,” a team focused on college climate and attendance. The teams commonly consisted of college leaders, counselors, instructors and nurses, Currie said. Throughout the first college year of the program’s execution in 2018-19, Currie stated, participation rose while chronic absence fell significantly. Due to the fact that of this job, Vasil said, the school saw a much more positive climate and society, specifically after the pandemic, which was a crucial factor for boosting participation. She included that an additional contributor to the college’s success in tackling chronic absenteeism was the school’s ability to keep track of pupil attendance over time and by quality degree.