WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Attendance rates are down in Kansas schools since the pandemic began, but one school district is bucking that trend.
More students are missing 16 or more days of school every year, making them chronically absent.
The Haysville Unified School District 261 had more than half students chronically absent in 2022. Now that number is down to only about a fifth.
District officials say it’s all about prioritizing attendance.
In 2022, 55% of kids at Haysville Schools missed class 16 or more days in the year.
In 2023, that number dropped to 33%. Currently, it’s down another 12%.
The change began when district officials realized how low attendance was and put a team of district and school staff together.
“To kind of drill down to the root cause of some of our attendance problems and determine why our attendance rate had skyrocketed as it had,” said Jennifer Reed, Haysville School District Assistant Superintendent for Learning Services.
According to Reed, the attendance team started by streamlining communication with parents and within the district in general, making sure parents and staff understood both excused and unexcused absences counted toward absenteeism rates.