BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md — Maryland is taking aim at chronic absenteeism with a new advertising campaign, as state officials work to break down the barriers keeping students out of classrooms.
"When students are in schools consistently, they are better positioned to learn, grow, achieve at higher levels," said Sudbrook Middle School Principal, Gordon Webb.
State Superintendent of Public Schools Dr. Carey Wright pointed to a simple but telling example of how one school principal helped a family solve an attendance problem.
"We had one principal that had an example, and it was so easy to understand, but had she not been out talking to parents, the one parent, she said, What? Your child's missing a lot of school and the parents said, we don't have an umbrella. And so when it's raining, by the time my child walks all the way to school, they're soaked, so we keep them home. So what did this principal do? She went out and bought an umbrella," Wright said.
Chronic absenteeism in Maryland has been declining, dropping from 30% to just under 23% last school year. A student is considered chronically absent when they miss approximately 2 days of school per month, regardless of whether the absence is excused.
Wright encouraged parents experiencing barriers to attendance to reach out directly to their child's school.
"I would start with the school, uh, possibly a visit to the either with the, the teacher if that's the relationship you have at first, or if there's a school counselor that is on board that you feel comfortable talking to or the principal, uh, anybody that you feel is a parent because the schools are open for just that reason. Every school is open for that reason and so there's somebody in the school that can help any parent that needs help and it may be outside the school's purview so that's important to know as well," Wright said.
According to the state, community schools with more wrap-around services are seeing the biggest increases in assessment scores and the biggest drops in absenteeism.
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