The California Department of Education (CDE) recently recognized six Riverside County school districts for what the state considers “exemplary practices” to reduce chronic absenteeism and improve student attendance rates.
“School attendance improvement programs are a critical tool to have children back in the classroom, which is an important part of academic success and social-emotional well-being, especially for our most vulnerable students,” State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said in a release announcing the 19 award recipients.
Students who miss 10% or more of the academic year, or 18 days, for any reason are considered chronically absent. And while chronic absenteeism impacts school districts financially — much of their funding is based on average daily attendance — all of the administrators who spoke with The Riverside Record said the importance of attendance was much deeper than that…