Local experts weigh in on alarming increase to school absenteeism

ROCHESTER, N.Y. ( WROC ) — The pandemic’s effects still haven’t loosened their grip on New York’s schools. A new report by the state comptroller shows the 2022-2023 school year was marked by nearly 30 percent of all students missing 18 or more school days.

Rochester’s high school students struggling more than any other in the large city measurement—with a staggering 71.8 percent absent from RCSD.

“It wasn’t surprising, but it also doesn’t have to be how we define ourselves moving forward,” says Shaun Nelms, the University of Rochester Warner School’s vice president of community partnerships.

Nelms works closely on the Educational Partnership Organization which was developed through state approval for the university to assist improving East High School . He says their results increasing attendance and lowering the drop out rate over the 10-year partnership started with giving kids and their families more reasons to come to campus.

“What we wanted to do was create a neighborhood school. So get as many kids from the community to attend at school, but also have a community school focus—meaning that we had dental care on campus and medical care on campus, mental health support on campus, and after school activities and sports,” Nelms explains to News 8’s Mikhaela Singleton .

“We focused on really creating a system and culture that parents were comfortable sending their kids to,” he goes on to say.

That parent engagement was also a key part in the partnership’s strategy. Nelms says it was important to deduce what obstacles families needed to work around, such as timing for older students to watch younger siblings, job schedules, and transportation barriers.

“We often forget that many of our parents were educated in districts that were underfunded as well, so they haven’t had the best experience. We’re asking them to trust us that this experience with their children will be different,” he says.

“There are these myths out there, right? That if you have a young child, it doesn’t really matter if they miss a day here or there, but that adds up and the research shows that it starts from two, three, four, and five years old. You want your children to be in school and attending regularly,” says Brian Lewis, the executive director of ROC the Future Alliance.

ROC the Future Alliance works to reconnect students and families with resources in order to address some of the main factors that contribute to chronic absenteeism, underperformance, and dropout rates.

The comptroller’s report notes absenteeism is higher among those economically disadvantaged, English language learners, and students with disabilities–each measuring approximately 44 percent. The report goes on to address racial disparities, with the highest absenteeism measured in American Indian or Alaska Natives, followed by Black or African descent students and Latinx students.

“Some of the root causes of reasons why young people are absent from school are disconnection from resources in their community, not having stable housing, making sure that they have all the mental health resources that they need and are connected to,” explains Lewis.

ROC the Future Alliance encourages active parent engagement and gives youth a seat at the table through the High School Graduation Outcome Team. One such young advocate—Nazareth Miller—says kids need choices to get excited about school.

“I got lucky. From the slim selection, I found something I really enjoyed to do. I started off in elementary with the Lego robotics,” Miller says.

These experts all agree their focus is on hearing what students need and giving them individual plans for success.

“If we really want to understand this issue, we need to get beyond just what the adults have to say about it,” says Lewis.

“When you listen to kids and they trust you, they’ll tell you what they need to attend school more regularly. Now the question becomes—do we listen?” Nelms challenges.

“It means a lot that our voices actually matter because you know we’re the ones going through it,” Miller adds.

The Rochester City School District responded to News 8 inquiry that in addition to the statistics shared in the comptroller’s report, the district has an overall absenteeism rate approximately 63 percent in the 2022-2023 year. The district also has a targeted strategy to reduce the absenteeism rate by 25 percent by 2028.

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