Key Insights from the Communicating Chronic Absenteeism Live Session

Carolyn Callahan, Chief of Communications at Jefferson County Public Schools, recently dropped by to share how her district is working to improve attendance and shared some insightful tips on how to amplify chronic absenteeism efforts across the entire school community and through local media stories. From addressing attendance barriers to strategically communicating with families so that they better understand the importance of attending every day, we’ve included the highlights here! 

The Power of Attendance Teams  

Just like many others across the country, the attendance team at Jefferson County Public Schools works hard to not only track the families & students facing attendance challenges, but get to the root cause. This may include home visits and phone calls, which have surfaced some of the district’s most common barriers including housing instability, food insecurity, and hygiene issues. By understanding the most common barriers, the district has been able to implement highly informed attendance improvement strategies across JCPS. 

Click here for strategies to build or strengthen your own attendance team!

Addressing Attendance Barriers 

Identifying attendance barriers is one thing— helping families and students overcome them is a whole different challenge. The team at JCPS found that mitigating the numerous attendance barriers that their families were experiencing required building trust and offering easily accessible solutions. This includes: 

• Youth service centers that provide clean clothing, food, and toiletries for all students in need
• Washing machines because when students have clean clothes, they are more likely to feel comfortable going to school every day 
• Telehealth makes it easier to get quick care and prescriptions, significantly reducing the amount of days students miss due to illness
• Leveraging community partners and widening the net of resources to include local programs has greatly helped the JCPS community  

‍Family & Staff Communication 

The communications team at JCPS plays a key role in improving attendance by ensuring consistent communication to staff and families alike to reinforce the importance of reducing chronic absenteeism. This includes:

• Flyers & worksheets: widely distributed to families at events and through digital channels to help them understand the importance of attendance and resources available to make it easier to be present every day 
• Translation: ensure all families can receive this crucial attendance messaging 
• Text messages: provide the latest information on student attendance ‍
• Website Updates: where attendance policies & supports are easily accessible

If you are looking for support in communicating the importance of attendance to your district’s families, EveryDay Labs can help with evidence-based communications sent on your behalf via mail & text. 

Sharing You Story with Media

Carolyn emphasized that every staff member is a storyteller for their community, which is why it’s so important for all team members to understand what chronic absenteeism is, why it matters, and what resources are available to help families and students get back on track. Additionally, the attendance team and other school-based staff, being the closest to chronically absent students, are essential to surfacing stories to share with local media. The attendance team was a key partner as the communications team worked with the local newspaper, and later CBS News, to share real stories of students & families who have been struggling with chronic absenteeism 

Once you’ve hooked the reporter with a compelling chronic absenteeism story, Carolyn also recommends circling back to other key priorities and pushing for more coverage. In JCPS, this has included staffing and supporting multilingual learners.  

Nurturing a Culture of Belonging 

Understanding that students are more excited about showing up to school when it’s a welcoming place to be, JCPS has taken numerous measures to continue building a culture of belonging. Over the summer, they went into the highest poverty schools with the highest rates of chronic absenteeism and rebranded them with new mascots and freshly painted walls. When class was back in session this year, students were thrilled to walk in and see their upgraded hallways and classrooms, receiving an important message that the district wants them to attend every day and feel like school is a place where they can grow and thrive. 

Celebrating Progress

With all of these efforts, JCPS has been proud to see a decrease of chronic absenteeism this year compared to last: 

November 2023: 32.5% of students chronically absent

November 2024: 27.6% of students chronically absent. 

While there’s still work to do, these numbers are trending in the right direction and are certainly encouraging! 

If you're looking for a partner in improving chronic absenteeism, family engagement, and staff capacity, reach out today!