Alabama State Superintendent joins 13 other states in effort to reduce chronic absenteeism

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ( WIAT ) — State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey is working to tackle chronic absenteeism among students in Alabama.

Mackey said in a statement that he is partnering with other states to cut chronic absenteeism by 50% over the next five years. According to Mackey, 17.9% of students across the state were chronically absent during the 2022-2023 school year.

“For Chilton County Schools, our chronic absenteeism rate was at about 13%,” said Corey Clements, Chilton County Schools Superintendent. “But when we came back in 2022, our chronic absenteeism rate had jumped five percent to 18.5%.”

Clements explained that students are considered chronically absent after missing 18 days of school. He asked his schoolboard to create an absence recovery program after the pandemic.

“K-12 students could come after school on a particular Tuesday or Thursday and redo assignments and make up missed work,” said Clements.

Dr. Corey Jones, Greene County Schools Superintendent, said his district is working with a truancy officer to reduce absenteeism.

“Administrators and teachers that have developed relationships in which – the students, if they are out, they make contact to determine why they are out and encourage them to come to school,” said Jones.

Carl Felton III, a policy analyst with EdTrust, said thirteen states have joined Alabama in the ‘Fifty by Five’ campaign to help bring down chronic absenteeism.

“That’s gonna look different for every state, every context,” Felton remarked on the initiative. “So what we want to do, and what other organizations are doing, is providing resources that can be implemented.”

Hedy Chang, the executive director of Attendance Works, said the initiative is encouraging schools to partner with families. She said this will help identify the resources they need.

“Whether that’s transportation, health services, safer paths to school, dealing with issues of bullying- you know, the issues are numerous,” Chang noted. “But really partner with families.”

Chang said schools should work now to start identifying students who may need extra support early in the school year.

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