Valley organizations work to reduce absentee problem in schools

PHOENIX – Chronic absenteeism continues to be a problem in Arizona schools, a trend that has improved but remains in a worrying place for the future of Arizona’s economy.

It’s also an issue that local nonprofit Valley of the Sun United Way (VSUW) is working to find relief on with many community partners marking September as Attendance Awareness Month in Maricopa County.

VSUW Community Development and Engagement Director Dawn Gerundo said for the average school year in our state, chronic absence comes out to about 18.5 missed school days per year.

They report current rates are about one-in-four students missing 10% of the school year, making them chronically absent.

That number ticks higher to around 35% when looking at low-income students.

Gerundo explained this could mean real harm for the future of Arizona’s economy and workforce, where there are already high concerns.

She said this has come up when speaking to local business leaders.

“These are the students you want to hire. And then I always ask them, how many of you want to hire someone who is going to be absent two or three days a month?”

There’s no one reason why chronic absenteeism continues to be a problem, though the Covid-19 pandemic spurred the problem.

In 2022, around one-in-three students were chronically absent. But there are related factors that make a student more likely to be in this group, such as families who are low-income or are experiencing homelessness.

Doctor visits, attaining childcare and other aspects of everyday life can be more difficult for these families, which can lead to students missing more school.

While schools are trying to get those rates themselves, Gerundo said they can’t do it alone.

“This impacts all of us and it’s a systematic change that can’t be done just by schools and districts themselves,” Gerundo said. “They need our community to come along with that.”

Part of VSUW’s efforts is making sure families understand what resources already exist near them.

For example, if a family is food insecure and relies on a food bank for meals that can cause delays getting students to school because of transportation needs.

Gerundo said part of their work includes looking for specific resources for individual families.

People can visit their website to learn both how to receive resources and get involved in helping others in your community to make sure students are making it to school.