BALTIMORE — More than 1,000 students have not shown up to Baltimore City schools since the start of the new school year. That’s how many calls volunteers from the district office were set to make this Sunday as they aim to address chronic absenteeism from the root cause.
WATCH: Addressing absenteeism at city schools one call at a time
“Nobody has to come today. No one's getting paid for coming today. They're genuinely coming because they care,” Lori Haines, Baltimore City Public School Systems’ director of student conduct and attendance, said.
“I don’t think people understand how much of ground work goes into an effort like this. And so, when they talk about boots on the ground, this is what it looks like,” Roger Shaw, executive director of BCPSS’ Re-engagement center, said.
Haines, who helped to establish the event during COVID, says the number of calls they have to make this year are fewer. But the issue is still one they are focused on.
In order to be considered “chronically absent” a student only has to miss 10% or 18 days of a 180 calendar school year.
“Sometimes, families may think 'Oh, it's not a big deal like we're going to miss the first two weeks because we're out on vacation.' That's already 10 days that you've missed,” Haines explained.
In Baltimore City, most recent data shows nearly half of students in the district fall into that category.
READ MORE: Baltimore wants to get to the bottom of its chronic absenteeism problem
Although the numbers have been slowly improving, as people like Shaw sees the student behind the number, as he works to connect families to the resources they need in real time, whether that's an appointment at the center this week or the right school supplies.
“That’s what we call hope in action. So I can give you hope through the conversation, but hope in action I’m giving you something tangible so you can see your way through that,” he said. “That’s very important.”