Lake County Schools has joined a nationwide effort to celebrate the Attendance Awareness Campaign in September and has pledged to focus on reducing chronic absenteeism in the new school year.
The district recognizes that good attendance is essential to academic success. But far too many students are at risk academically because they are chronically absent. Chronic absence is described as missing 10 percent of the school year -- or about 18 days -- for any reason.
Our country faces a school attendance crisis. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 8 million students were chronically absent. Early data from states indicates that it has likely doubled, potentially affecting nearly 16 million students nationwide.
Starting as early as kindergarten or even preschool, chronic absence predicts lower 3rd grade reading scores. By middle school, it's a warning sign that students will fail key classes and drop out of high school, research shows.
Chronic absence disproportionately affects children from low-income families and communities of color, creating attendance gaps that exacerbate achievement gaps in local schools. This is not just a matter of truancy. Many children, especially in the early grades, miss too much school because of chronic health problems, unreliable transportation or housing moves -- barriers that city agencies and community partners can help families address.
In September, schools, city agencies, community nonprofits, faith-based groups, businesses and others around the nation are committing time and resources to raise public awareness, map local attendance gaps and work with community partners to improve school attendance and student engagement.
"September is a particularly good time to focus on attendance," said Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a national nonprofit initiative dedicated to improving school attendance. "Research shows that students who miss two to four days in the first month of school are more likely to become chronically absent during the school year. By paying attention to absences early in the school year and early in a child's academic career, we can turn around attendance and achievement."