The number of West Contra Costa County students missing school is among the highest in the county, according to a civil grand jury.
An average of 14.6 percent of students at west Contra Costa County schools are chronically absent, according to a report issued by the grand jury earlier this month.
The report highlighted the problem of chronic absenteeism — when students are absent for 10 percent or more of the school year — in the West Contra Costa School District and the smaller John Swett Unified School District. And not only do those students miss instruction, the districts are hit financially, too. Since California schools receive state funding based on their average daily attendance rates, the higher the rate of chronic absenteeism, the less money the school receives.
“We definitely feel it,” said John Swett Unified Superintendent Charles Miller. “(Chronic absenteeism) is something we’re working to correct because we want to bring as much money as possible in order to better service our students.”
The two districts — which together have about 30,000 students — had two of the highest chronic absenteeism rates in the county.
Chronic absenteeism is especially a problem in elementary schools, according to the grand jury report. Contra Costa County has one of the highest elementary school truancy rates in the Bay Area at 30.4 percent, according to a 2013 report by the state attorney general’s office.
The grand jury’s members also visited five elementary schools in low-income West County neighborhoods to interview school administrators and staff. They found the schools had chronic absenteeism rates of 10.9 percent, 12.1 percent, 16.6 percent, 17 percent and 30.1 percent.
West Contra Costa Unified is working to increase attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism, spokesman Marcus Walton said Monday.
“Some of the measures in place include steps being taken to improve the climate at all of our schools, working with our community partners to provide resources for families to help get their children to school and stressing the importance of attendance,” Walton said.
The grand jury interviewed officials from the Contra Costa County Office of Education, the districts’ attendance supervisors and the districts’ superintendents, and also researched available data.
The report also showed that 91 percent of the West Contra Costa County elementary school students who were chronically absent were from socioeconomically disadvantaged families.
“Chronic absenteeism is usually wrapped up in deeper issues that require more in-depth resources to the family,” Miller said. “Unless it’s a high school kid, it’s not the kids themselves that are driving to school.”
The school districts are working to improve “parental engagement” with programs such as Parent University, designed to show parents how to navigate the school system and how to keep up on their children’s education. It also teaches parents how missing school can harm their children’s academic success, the report said.
The report recommends that district officials consider including reducing chronic absenteeism in their Local Control and Accountability Plans — three-year plans where school districts set goals and plans to achieve them. It also encourages district superintendents to post monthly attendance data on their websites by next school year.
Miller said he plans to incorporate both recommendations in his district.
For the West Contra Costa Unified school board, the report recommends seeking funds to study the Parent University course and its potential to reduce chronic absenteeism. The district could share its findings with other districts to help them fight chronic absenteeism.
The report also recommends that the Contra Costa County superintendent of schools expand its “Every School Day Counts” educational marketing campaign that shows how truancy can harm a student’s education experience.
June 20, 2018
East Bay Times
By Ali Tadayon
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