How do Sonoma County schools combat chronic absenteeism?

Kids miss school for a number of reasons, whether it's fear of bullying, unstable living conditions, lack of transportation, medical problems or family vacations.

But schools officials argue missing class for any reason has consequences, and not just on a student's academics. It also affects the community as a whole.

Schools throughout Sonoma County are working to reduce absences as districts across the state face greater pressure to get students to show up for class.

The state Board of Education earlier this month voted to add chronic absenteeism data for kindergarten to eighth grade to the California School Dashboard, which measures schools and districts based on academic performance, English-language learner progress, college and career readiness, graduation and suspension rates, and more.

“The state has obviously taken a different emphasis and this is going to be a change in mindsets for many families,” said Steve Mizera, Santa Rosa City Schools assistant superintendent of student and family services, at a board meeting this month. “It's not about getting a packet anymore, doing 30 math pages while you're in Disneyland, coming back and turning that in.”

Chronic absenteeism occurs when students miss 10 percent of school days or more, regardless of whether they're excused or unexcused.

A student who misses just two days of school a month can be considered chronically absent.

By third grade, students chronically absent in previous grades tend to struggle reading at the right level. And by high school, those students are more likely to drop out, according to Attendance Works, a nonprofit aimed at reducing chronic absence across the country.

“What surprises most people is that they don't realize how a few absences lead to those consequences,” said Cecelia Leong, Attendance Works associate director for programs.

The Santa Rosa school district estimates 18.8 percent of its middle and high school students and 11.1 percent of those in elementary school were chronically absent during the 2017-18 school year. It's an improvement from the previous year, Mizera said.

The district is in the middle of a three-year grant aimed at improving attendance. The Project Student Attendance Improves Learning grant allowed the district to hire family mentors to help improve attendance by conducting home visits and guiding families to social services they may need. There's also family engagement staff at each school.

The district also rolled out a program that lets students make up absences during the weekend. Now in its third year, Elevate Academy offers make-up sessions from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on some Saturdays

It held 11 sessions in its first year and 16 sessions the second year. Elevate Academy director Patty Turner said they hope to expand to 25 sessions this year.

“It depends on the need of the teacher and how to best help their kids,” Turner said.

The sessions don't always resemble a typical school day. On Saturday at Maria Carrillo High School, drama teacher Denise Elia-Yen held a pancake fundraiser as part of the Elevate Academy class. Students sold pancakes, hot cocoa and coffee.

Most students weren't there to make up an absence, but Bella Farrell, a junior, had an absence this school year she was able to make up.

“I think it's a fair idea,” said Farrell, who missed two months of school last year because of illness.

Elevate Academy gives students an opportunity to collaborate and learn social skills, Elia-Yen said. Providing an option to make up an absence on a Saturday also is helpful for high school students overwhelmed with juggling academics, school activities or part-time jobs, she said.

“I really believe that it's necessary,” Elia-Yen said.

The Saturday program is fun, Turner said. “At the same time, they're learning and they recover.”

While students can make up days during the Saturday program, days can't be banked, Turner said.

The Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District also is focusing more on attendance, said Rocky Schumann, the student services specialist. He expects more home visits this school year.

“We're really looking at responding to students being out of school in a more immediate way,” said Schumann, who also manages the Student Attendance Review Board.

It's important to look at families individually to address specific needs they may have, he said. If a student suffers from anxiety, Schumann connects them with counseling. If a family is homeless, he gets social services to help.

“An educated society is a more productive and a better society for everyone,” he said. “Everyone agrees that a high school diploma is a good thing. How can we support you to achieve that goal?”

Matt Marshall, Cotati-Rohnert Park district's director of student services, said this school year they've also doubled the number of caseworkers they bring in from Keeping Kids in School, a county program.

The district's 2016-17 chronic absenteeism rate was 11.1 percent, slightly higher than the statewide rate of 10.8 percent.

“The family might have an issue we're not aware of, which is often the case. There's all sorts of barriers,” Marshall said.

“We want to intervene before it's a problem. The system struggles when it gets into the punitive side of things.”

Leong said chronic absenteeism is nonetheless “a solvable problem.”

“We go to school because we have a sense of hope for a better future,” Leong said. “There's a lot we each could do to make a difference.”

You can reach Staff Writer Susan Minichiello at 707-521-5216 or susan.minichiello@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @susanmini.