COLUMBUS, Ohio — At Hilliard City School District, they have noticed more students missing class.
“In grades 6-8 in 2017 it was 3% (absenteeism). And just this past year it was 23%,” said David Steward, the superintendent of HCSD.
Steward said this year they wanted to get ahead of the issue by starting to communicate with parents about their students attendance.
“We sent an email to every parent of their students attendance a year ago, and how it compares to other students in the same grade,” said Steward.
Across all grades, the district's absenteeism for last year was 18%. Steward calls it a critical problem, but one they are addressing.
For Columbus City Schools the district's absenteeism has improved over the last two years.
In the 2021-22 school year, it was at 65%. A year later, it dropped to 57.8%.
“The reasons vary from transportation to homelessness, schools, some of the external factors are family dynamics. Life happens,” said Tyree Pollard, the director of attendance at CCS.
Pollard said the data shows those who don’t show up are at a big disadvantage.
“The likelihood of them passing the third grade reading guarantee drops and the likelihood of them graduation on time drops significantly,” said Pollard.
This year, the district started a new initiative called “Strong start” to get kids back in the classroom.
“We started making phone calls early August, home visits saying ‘Hey did you know school starts Aug. 23rd?’” said Pollard.
The district's goal is to get their absenteeism percentage below 50%.