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Chronic absenteeism addressed in Oceanside Unified schools

The number of kids missing school has doubled since the pandemic, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — They're called the attendance team. It’s a group of Oceanside Unified School District staff members, who, for the past several weeks, have been visiting homes, making phone calls, texting, and mailing flyers to families whose children are considered chronically absent.

"We have about 180 days of school each year, and a chronically absent student is someone who has missed 18 to 20 or more days of school per year, which really contributes to them falling behind," said Dr. Jordy Sparks, the district's Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Student Supports.

Dr. Sparks says the whole goal behind their efforts is to connect with families, figure out what's preventing their child from attending school on a regular basis, and provide whatever resources they might need, such as backpacks filled with supplies. It's something they've been doing for years, but there's now an even bigger push given how much the problem has grown.

Of the nearly 16,000 students in the district, last year, more than 3,000 were considered chronically absent, or about 18%.

"The highest we ever got in Oceanside was around 11-12% of our students being chronically absent. We worked really diligently around 2017-2018 to get that number down to 7% or so, and so now comparing that with the 18% or more of students who are chronically absent, it's definitely a bigger push this year," said Dr. Sparks.

Dr. Sparks says while there are several contributing factors, the most significant one is the pandemic.

"A big challenge has been returning to school from the pandemic when schools were closed for a number of years and students feeling more disconnected and disengaged from school."

It's an issue schools everywhere are facing. According to the latest statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Education, before the pandemic, about 8 million students nationwide were chronically absent.

That number has now doubled to 16 million.

Dr. Sparks says aside from learning loss, chronic absenteeism also results in less government funding.

Oceanside Unified receives roughly 85 dollars per student, per day, but only when they're in attendance.

"So, it's critical for a student to be there for purposes of connection and learning, but it’s also critical for students to be there so we can continue our great programming," said Dr. Sparks.

As for the district's all-hands-on-deck approach, school starts August 15th, so they'll know after that if it works.

Dr. Sparks is hopeful, saying he plans to use the strategy throughout the school year.

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