September 25, 2024
Good afternoon Prince George Families,
We hope this message finds you well. We are committed to supporting positive school attendance habits by our students, and we want to share some additional information about our efforts in this area.
At our core, we believe consistent school attendance is a cornerstone for students to receive instruction, be present for lessons, and build important relationships with their peers. Data regularly shows that poor school attendance can impact reading proficiency, and becoming chronically absent by 6th grade is a leading indicator that a student will not be prepared for high school.
Over the last several years, as we continue our transition to a more traditional learning model following the COVID-19 pandemic, some students have faced challenges regarding their school attendance. A key component of addressing the challenge is making connections with our families to determine what circumstances are present that are preventing their child from being at school regularly, as outlined in the division's policy and by state guidelines pertaining to compulsory school attendance.
Throughout the previous school year, our division sought to reconnect with these families through targeted home visits, re-establishing contact with the families of students at risk of chronic absence or who had already fallen into the threshold of chronic absence. As a reminder, chronic absence is defined as a student who has missed ten percent or more of the enrolled school days. For Prince George County Public Schools, there are 177 school days scheduled for students during the 2024-25 School Year. Ten percent of 177 school days equals 17.7 days. Students who miss more than 17.6 school days will be considered chronically absent regardless of the reason for the absences, as outlined in the district's attendance regulations.
As we continue to see trends in positive directions with school attendance, we understand that our work is not done, and our schools and staff continue to be proactive in finding ways to partner with families to ensure their children attend school regularly and consistently. As we shared earlier this month, our division has partnered with other community agencies to launch a truancy prevention team to continue building relationships with families of students facing attendance challenges. The most crucial goal of the team is to reconnect with families who have fallen out of contact with their child's school regarding their child's absences and to determine how best to work together to have their child back at school. This goal is achieved through meeting families, sharing materials about the importance of school attendance, and providing any support needed to benefit the family and allow their child to return to school regularly.
These home visits, as was the case last school year, are not intended to make parents/guardians feel they are in trouble because their child missed one or a couple of days from school during the school year, be it excused or unexcused absences.
Our division is focused on connecting with those families whose children have been consistently away from school, and there has been little to no communication from the families to their child's school, increasing absences for their child and a loss of valuable instructional time for them, which could create academic challenges if not addressed promptly.
We will continue to refine our efforts and remain transparent as we work alongside the Prince George County School Board to develop strategies to ensure our children have access to and are present to receive instruction in our schools. We also will continue to accept the feedback of our stakeholders, including parents and the community at large, as we address absenteeism in our community.
Sincerely,
Dr. Wayne Lyle
Superintendent
Prince George County Public Schools