District rides attendance rollercoaster

By Marcus Clem

As temperatures drop each year, so does the rate at which kids show up to school in St. Joseph, but the district holds that rate will climb back up, based on past data.

The month of December 2023, viewed in isolation, produced a low 72.59% rate of satisfactory attendance. That means that slightly fewer than 3 in every 4 students showed up for at least 9 in every 10 of their scheduled classroom hours. Either they skipped entire days, too often showed up late to school, or went home too early. The month of August alone showed 84.29% satisfactory attendance. 

The district separately calculates “cumulative” attendance, which shows what percentage of all scheduled hours students have been present for over the entire year. This figure stands at 80.7% as of the end of December. The district aims to bring cumulative attendance up to 90% or higher, while striving to ensure it does not fall below 80%, which the State of Missouri defines as an expectation for accredited school districts. The district finished the 2022-23 year at just under 80%. 

“It’s almost like trying to push an iceberg versus pushing an ice cube,” said Kendra Lau, director of school improvement. “They’re still both, you know, the same thing, it’s just one is comprised of a lot more than the other one.” 

The reason why month-by-month attendance falls each winter isn’t precisely clear, nor is it outwardly obvious why this trend has remained stubbornly worse in 2021, 2022, 2023 and now 2024, compared with the pre-pandemic years. However, the district records many more claims of illness during this time. People are huddled closer together in colder climates, and kids become more susceptible to conditions like influenza, pink eye and of course, COVID-19. 

There is some cause for optimism in that the district headed into spring 2023 with cumulative numbers below 80%. With the cumulative number coming into 2024 recorded at 80.7%, attaining the 90% or higher goal is conceivable. It will, however, require month-by-month numbers to be significantly higher than 72.59%, so as to gradually move the iceberg.

As of now, December 2023 data reflects a 3.5% improvement over December 2022 data, Lau said.

“We’ll still improving over last year, but we’re not where we want to be,” she said. “Because, the definition of chronic absenteeism is missing 10% of the school year. So, the very definition of failing is 90%. That’s why we’re trying to get to where our kids are not missing more than 10% of the school year.” 

The district considers good attendance to be essential for academic improvement and the rate of high school graduation, which is below 80%. There is also a financial consideration, because a district’s attendance data can change the amount of money Missouri provides. This is reviewed each year. For each student enrolled, the district receives a payment of $6,375 per student. An additional payment $3,695 is tacked on per year in cases of good attendance.