Chronic absenteeism is dropping throughout Carson City School district but remains high
Data shows that chronic absenteeism continues to drop in the Carson City School District, but still remains high compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
This year, Empire Elementary School has vastly improved their chronic absenteeism rate, according to Trustee Molly Walt.
This year, they are reporting an 11 percent chronic absenteeism rate, compared to 23.3 percent in 2022, and 35 percent in 2021.
Around 29 percent of Carson City students were deemed chronically absent in 2022, which was a significant decrease of 40.9 percent during the 2020 school year. In comparison, only 15 percent of students were chronically absent during the 2018-2019 school year.
The highest rates were in the middle and high schools during the 2022 school year, the highest being 60 percent of students at Pioneer Academy High School. Carson Middle School was in second with 35.4 percent of students chronically absent, followed by Carson High at 34.3 percent.
Elementary schools were typically within a few percentage points of each other, the lowest being Seeliger Elementary at 18.5 percent.
Chronic absenteeism is an often misunderstood topic. While the rate might be 10 percent, that does not mean that on any given day 10 percent of the student body is missing.
What chronic absenteeism means is that if a student misses more than 10 percent of the school year as a whole, which roughly translates to 15 to 18 days per year or two days per month, they are considered chronically absent.
Chronic absenteeism does not exclude sickness from their rates unless there is an excused doctors note. So, if a student shows positive symptoms for flu or COVID-19 and their parent or guardian chooses to keep them home for the five day isolation period without seeing a doctor, these absences would count towards the chronic absenteeism rate despite following guidelines.
“Congratulations to Empire Elementary, and to parents getting their students to school,” Walt said. “However, their goal is zero students with chronic absenteeism. It is a tall order but they’re hopeful they will be able to accomplish this by the end of the year.”
Walt said the elementary school has been marketing five things to “allow” students at the school:
- Allow your children to be at school every day
- Allow your children to be on time every day
- Allow them to read with you every night
- Allow them to practice math facts every night
- Allow them to talk with families about SEL focus of the week
“In general, allow your children to access all the resources the school has to offer,” Walt said.
While rates continue to drop district-wide, it will be some time yet before they reach pre-pandemic numbers.