Although September is nationally recognized as Attendance Awareness Month, the Springfield City School District began prioritizing communicating the importance of student attendance post-pandemic, with a heavy emphasis in the last year.
According to the Ohio Department of Education, chronically absent students in Ohio are 65% less likely to meet the Third Grade Reading Guarantee and 89% less likely to graduate high school on time. Additionally, if a student misses two days of school per month, they will miss the equivalent of one year of class instruction by their high school graduation. That figure is doubled if the child were to miss four days of school per month.
Specifically, the District has taken the following measures to disseminate this important message to its families:
Billboard campaigns
Social media messaging
Increased phone communication between building leaders, secretaries and families
Creation of individualized success plans for families who may be struggling with attendance
Increased the number of District Attendance Officers
“I encourage families to maintain an open channel of communication with their school,” said SCSD Superintendent Dr. Bob Hill. “Let someone know if you are having trouble getting your child to school — whether you face issues with transportation, child care or something else. Our students cannot learn if they are not at school.”
In addition, the ODE suggests ensuring contact information is up to date with your child’s school, maintaining frequent contact with his or her teacher, scheduling medical appointments outside of school hours when possible and making sure children are getting an adequate amount of sleep every night.