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Extra counselors, attendance liaisons, and sources for faculties.
Extra constructive engagement for college kids, and larger accountability for folks.
These are a few of the recommendations to get extra Indiana college students to return to highschool each day heard by the Interim Research Committee on Schooling at its assembly Thursday. The panel is contemplating suggestions on continual absenteeism and scholar self-discipline earlier than the legislature reconvenes in January.
Although continual absenteeism charges have declined since hitting a excessive in 2022, the speed of Indiana college students who miss 18 days or extra in a faculty yr stays a lot increased than earlier than the pandemic. And Indiana Division of Schooling knowledge has linked continual absenteeism to extra suspensions and expulsions and worse tutorial efficiency.
Earlier this yr, lawmakers handed a invoice requiring faculties to carry attendance conferences with the mother and father of truant elementary college students, and refer these whose kids’s attendance doesn’t enhance to native prosecutors. However the authors of the invoice conceded that extra work have to be accomplished to handle absenteeism amongst older college students. That led to legislative leaders assigning the subject to an interim examine committee.
Suggestions made by interim committees usually sign what sort of laws lawmakers will deliver ahead on the subsequent legislative session. The following assembly of the committee just isn’t but scheduled.
Leaders spotlight counselors’ function in chopping continual absenteeism
On the committee’s inaugural assembly, lawmakers heard testimony from advocates and faculty districts in regards to the want for extra faculty counselors and attendance liaisons — and funding for each forms of positions — to assist handle the explanations that particular person college students are lacking faculty.
Officers with New Citadel faculties, a district of round 2,900 college students east of Indianapolis, mentioned the district leveraged a $4.3 million Subsequent Technology Faculty Enchancment Grant so as to add a secondary faculty attendance liaison to assist enhance absenteeism.
Indiana’s statewide counselor ratio is one for each 694 college students. However New Citadel maintains a 255:1 student-to-counselor ratio, based on Superintendent Matthew Shoemaker, who mentioned the positions are vital to figuring out the challenges college students are going through and connecting them to sources.
The district’s attendance liaison Katie Smith advised lawmakers that she makes between 30 to 40 cellphone calls per day to the households of absent college students to search out out why they’re not in school.
The explanations vary from easy — like lacking the bus — to advanced socioeconomic points, like a scholar’s must work or watch youthful siblings, Smith mentioned. In the meantime, constructive engagement in school, like a connection to a instructor or a counselor, motivates college students to attend.
Smith mentioned the district has each diminished absenteeism and improved the share of scholars who’ve greater than a 94% attendance charge. The district’s continual absenteeism charge fell from round 25% in 2023 to 19.5% in 2024.
The district wouldn’t have been in a position so as to add the attendance liaison place with out the Subsequent Technology grant awarded in 2022, officers mentioned in response to questions from lawmakers.
Funding might additionally help technological enhancements, like for a platform that robotically highlights which college students want a name or letter residence about their attendance, mentioned James Taylor, director of scholar and social providers at Warren Township faculties.
Some faculties have contracted with outdoors organizations to offer comparable help providers. For instance, representatives of Metropolis Connects mentioned their program has positioned coordinators at round 60 faculties in Indiana who determine exterior elements which will assist clarify why college students are lacking faculty.
This system, which works with Marian College’s Middle for Vibrant Faculties, is funded via a mixture of $20 million in federal funding, $3 million in state funding, and philanthropy.
Panel discusses mum or dad, scholar roles in lacking faculty
Lawmakers and public audio system additionally mentioned whether or not COVID has led to a cultural shift in how households view faculty attendance, with extra households taking trip throughout faculty time.
Democratic Rep. Ed Delaney steered that chronically absent college students and their mother and father might be restricted from extracurricular actions like sports activities and performing arts. However GOP committee chair Rep. Bob Behning famous that such actions usually assist encourage college students to attend faculty within the first place.
Some audio system advised lawmakers that their first try to handle absenteeism via the brand new regulation enacted via SEA 282 has had unintended penalties. In some faculty districts, college students with disabilities who miss faculty for medical doctors’ appointments have been advised they have to present documentation for each go to.
And frequent cellphone calls residence typically anger mother and father, mentioned Union Elementary Faculty Principal Katie Smith.
“We have to set clear expectations and proceed to associate with mother and father, or our attendance charges won’t ever enhance,” Smith mentioned.
Amy Boone, principal of Southport Excessive Faculty in Perry Township, mentioned the tight timeline during which faculties should maintain conferences with mother and father signifies that mother and father ceaselessly can’t attend.
Whereas the brand new regulation has drawn extra consideration to attendance and led some college students to attend extra ceaselessly, some mother and father have reacted by withdrawing their kids from district faculties and enrolling them in digital faculties or residence faculties, Boone mentioned. The varsity makes use of its federal Title I funding for the prices of holding mum or dad conferences.
“The coed would be the foremost stakeholder in making certain attendance,” Boone mentioned. “Giving them causes to not miss out on faculty will finally be the deciding issue.”
Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana schooling coverage and writes about Ok-12 faculties throughout the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.
