Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton
Tulsa World Staff Writer
With its chronic absenteeism rate still almost double compared to the pre-pandemic years, Union Public Schools is having conversations with parents, students, staff and the community about the need for consistent attendance.
“A few people can’t solve this,” Union’s Senior Executive Director of Research, Design and Assessment Todd Nelson said. “Everyone has to lift a little bit and do their part together, and it can change the trajectory.”
Across all grades and sites, 30% of Union students were considered chronically absent last year, with higher rates among pre-kindergarten and high school grades.
By comparison, the district’s chronic absenteeism rate was 17% in 2018-19, or the last full school year not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing at least 10% of instructional time for any reason. That amounts to 16 school days over the course of a year, or about two school days each month.
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“If a student is chronically absent three years in a row, the overall achievement effect tends to average at about a one year loss in learning,” Nelson said. “So being present consistently is really a critical piece to gaining the learning in a given year that needs to happen.”
The higher absenteeism rate is not unique to Union: 1 in 4 students nationwide were considered chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year, compared to roughly 15% of all students pre-pandemic.
Although he still wants students to stay home if they are sick, Union Superintendent John Federline acknowledged the impact of habits developed — and in some cases encouraged as a mitigation tool — during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was a very difficult gear switch for all of us to get into that mind frame, and then now it’s been a difficult gear switch to get out of that mind frame,” Federline said. “The effects of COVID continue to reverberate.
“We knew it was going to be bad. We had no idea how it would just continue on. Here we are in 2024, and we’re still dealing with some of the effects of it.”
In an effort to lower its districtwide chronic absenteeism rate, Union has launched “Must be present to win,” a campaign incorporating both real and exaggerated excuses given for students’ absences into satirical posters and social media posts.
Among those highlighted are Taylor Swift releasing a new album, resting up from a family vacation and going hunting for Bigfoot.
“It is generating some conversation,” district spokesman Chris Payne said. “The kids are noticing them and really, the whole purpose is to is put more attention to bear on chronic absenteeism and see if we can move the needle a little.”
Along with the district-wide campaign, individual schools are utilizing initiatives tailored to their specific community.
Since the 2021-22 school year, Jarman Elementary School, 9015 E. 79th St., has lowered its chronic absenteeism rate by 10% and improved its average daily attendance rate by 2%.
Along with offering student-selected incentives each month to the grade with the best attendance, Principal Shawna Graham said she and her staff have made a point to bring up absenteeism with parents at every possible opportunity, both at in person events and through regular messages, emails and even phone calls to families whose students are regularly missing class.
“We’re definitely making attendance a priority and making sure that parents know the importance of it,” she said. “Any time we have a family engagement event, we’ve made attendance an item we talk about. We’ve talked about what chronic absenteeism means and shared actual numbers of how many students we had were chronically absent. We would always see shock on parents’ faces because the numbers were very high.”
Graham’s counterpart at Union High School, Beau Brannon, has also begun incorporating more individualized outreach in an effort to combat chronic absenteeism rates that exceeded 40% among sophomores and juniors last year.
Brannon has additional attendance challenges to contend with that his colleagues at almost every other Union site do not.
“Our students being able to drive is a factor,” he said. “Another factor that’s not unique to all Tulsa schools but at least for us is that we allow off campus lunch, so we might have students take an extended lunch. We also have virtual classes in the mix as well for some students. We have some really challenging factors here that make it more difficult than for our younger counterparts.”
With those challenges in mind, the staff at Union High School have made a point to ensure each of the more than 3,000 students on campus has at least one adult with whom they remain in regular contact.
In addition to relationship building efforts, the school has added a new assistant principal who is tasked solely with student engagement, including meeting with chronically absent students and their families to develop attendance goals.
To further incentivize students to regularly attend school, Union has also been adding and growing programs that students have specifically sought out, including construction and aerospace classes. Since its launch in 2020, more than 1,000 students have taken at least one of Union’s construction classes while the school’s second year aerospace program has 200 students this year.
“We are trying to provide programs that the kids are excited about,” he said. “Unless they are sick, we want them here every day.”
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