ABSENTEEISM

Geneva schools, like many across the state, have an attendance problem. State data show that more than 30 percent – almost a third – of elementary and middle school students are missing too many days of school.

The rate was even higher among Geneva High School students in 2022, with 39.4% chronically absent.

This is the state’s definition of chronic absenteeism:

The student is enrolled in school for at least 10 days and attends school at least one of those days.
The student is absent at least 10 percent of the days they were enrolled.

Covid obviously had an impact, through online learning and quarantines. As the chart above demonstrates, absenteeism shot up after 2020. (The state did not release detailed attendance data for that year because of the pandemic.).

Skipping school has become a bad habit. As NPR reported in March:

Before the pandemic, about 8 million U.S. students were considered chronically absent, according to the research group Attendance Works. That’s when a student misses 10% or more of the school year. By spring 2022, that number had doubled to around 16 million.

The rate is highest among those who can most benefit: students for whom English is a second language, Hispanic and black students, students who are economically disadvanged or disabled. The graphic below shows rates for each of these groups Geneva elementary and middle schools in 2022.

One of the causes of Geneva’s high absenteeism is the number of Latino students in the district, says Assistant Superintendent John Gonzalez. Many students accompany their families to Puerto Rico or other Spanish-speaking home countries during the Christmas holidays. It’s a cultural issue, he says, “where family remains the highest priority.”

Administrators and faculty target these students to help them catch up, he said. Programs outside the schools, including tutoring at the Boys & Girls Club, also reach out to these students.

Why does this matter? As the nonprofit organization Attendance Works notes:

Children living in poverty are two to three times more likely to be chronically absent—and face the most harm because their community lacks the resources to make up for the lost learning in school. Students from communities of color as well as those with disabilities are disproportionately affected.

This isn’t simply a matter of truancy or skipping school. In fact, many of these absences, especially among our youngest students, are excused. Often absences are tied to health problems, such as asthma, diabetes, and oral and mental health issues. Other barriers including lack of a nearby school bus, a safe route to school or food insecurity make it difficult to go to school every day.  In many cases, chronic absence goes unnoticed because schools are counting how many students show up every day rather than examining how many and which students miss so much school that they are falling behind.

The numbers in Geneva don’t approach the post-pandemic figures in districts such as New York City, where most high school seniors missed at least 18 days of school last year. And yet the rate at GCSD is still alarming, worse than that of many nearby districts. The chart below shows that Geneva leads Ontario County districts in absenteeism.

Canandaigua City School District has a much lower rate of chronic absenteeism – 9.4 percent at the elementary and middle school levels, compared to 30.4 percent in Geneva. In 2015-2016, the district launched a program called Early Warning Indicator, which monitors each student’s attendance, behavior and academic performance.

The aim, said Canandaigua Assistant Superintendent Matt Shrage, is to spot problems before they reach the point of no return. Intervention might include stepped-up communication between the district and the student’s parents or guardians; home visits; and/or referrals to community-based programs that can help address problems.

The following chart compares Geneva with other, similarly sized school districts in Upstate New York. These districts’ elementary-middle school enrollments range from 1,000 to 1,400. Geneva’s EM enrollment in 2022 was 1,291.

Source: Report Card Database, New York State Education Department