Compared to other school districts, Federal Way Public Schools’ unexcused absence rate is on the low end.
In the 2015-2016 school year, the Kent and Auburn districts had a rate of about 0.5 percent, Highline had a 1.2 percent rate and Tacoma had a 1.7 percent rate. Federal Way, meanwhile, reported a 0.8 percent unexcused absence rate.
But for the past three school years the district’s rate has increased from 0.6 percent to its current 0.8 percent with an increase of just under 600 students.
And district spokeswoman Kassie Swenson said chronic absenteeism is a “concern of focus” for the district, along with other Road Map Districts that include South Seattle, Renton, Tukwila, Highline, Kent and Auburn.
As a way to stand with the country in recognizing a year-long “Attendance Awareness” campaign, the district’s board of directors unanimously approved Resolution No. 2016-14, the “Scholar ‘Attendance Awareness’ Proclamation,” at a board meeting on Oct. 11.
“Attendance is important for academic success, and unexcused absences are an early warning sign for unaddressed problems with school and future dropout,” Swenson said. “Attendance 90 percent or less is an early-warning indicator of a scholar at risk for not graduating on time with their cohort and completing courses necessary for college entrance.”
This year, the unexcused absence rate for the first 28 days of school is identical to last year’s rate – 1.9 percent.
Swenson said the district is addressing absenteeism in their strategic plan, noting that attendance secretaries at each school monitor and inform a collective school support team when a student has five or more absences – a cause for concern.
“We begin with communicating with the families to better understand the reasons for the absences and to provide any assistance in supporting the family,” she said. “Counselors, social workers, family liaisons, school coordinators, nurses, teachers and specialists, office staff and administrators all have a responsibility to ensure families have various resources and assistance they need to eliminate any barriers that keep their child from getting to school on time and staying in school through the end of the regular school day.”
Barriers that can keep students from school include homelessness, taking care of a younger sibling, mental or behavior health issues like anxiety and physical impairments, among others.
Missing 10 percent of the school year – or 18 days – can affect not only one student’s learning but also that of their peers.
Swenson said if too many students are chronically absent it can slow down teacher instruction, and students who aren’t behind in class ultimately become affected as their teacher repeats material they’ve already learned.
“We believe a strong attendance campaign followed by ongoing, more intensive supports to assist individual scholars and families will cause the data to show a downward trend in absenteeism and increase in scholar engagement as measured by our stakeholders’ perception surveys,” Swenson said. “Additionally, our school staff will report an increase in scholars’ active learning while our truancy rates and court filings will begin to decrease.”
In addition to their strategic plan, the district has implemented the Mentor & Me mentoring program for students to build relationships with adults who care.
“We have built-in systems to monitor from the school and district level so we can continue to make data-informed decisions,” Swenson said. “Schools use this scholar data to respond early and often when they see trends with particular scholars. Our goal is to provide early interventions and support to families to eliminate the need for reactive processes such as the court-ordered truancy process.”
For more information on Federal Way Public Schools’ attendance, visit www.fwps.org.
