School Attendance Matters!
We've received a new grant to address chronic absenteeism in Northeast Iowa
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque has received $60,000 in grant funding from the Bureau of Iowa College Aid to lead Attendance Matters, a local College Access Network (LCAN) addressing chronic absenteeism in Allamakee, Clayton, Dubuque and Jackson Counties.
The rate of chronic absenteeism has risen dramatically and has more than doubled since 2019. Students who miss 10% or more of school days are considered chronically absent. That is the equivalent of just two days per month or 18 days per year.
Missing this amount of school can have negative consequences for students and increase their likelihood of dropping out. There are potential legal implications for families as well. Iowa law (Senate File 2435) states that school officials must notify a child’s parent or guardian and take legal action if a child has missed 20% of school days, excluding certain exceptions like illness.
"Schools and communities struggle to solve the issue of chronic absenteeism because the root causes can be complex,” says Shirley Horstman, the Community Foundation's School Attendance and College Access Coordinator.
“They include transportation, physical and brain health, school climate, family mobility, and poverty. Students who attend school regularly are more likely to graduate on time and be college- and career-ready."
Horstman joined the Foundation in August after retiring from her longtime role as Executive Director of Student Services for the Dubuque Community School District.
Attendance is an issue among all students, but several student populations, including English learners and Pacific Islanders, experience chronic absenteeism at significantly higher rates than others. In 2022 46.9% of English learners and 68.8% of Pacific Islanders throughout the four counties were chronically absent, compared to 26.4% of all students.
The Attendance Matters LCAN will focus attention on these populations in part because of the Dubuque region's trending population shifts. It builds on the work of the Community Foundation’s Every Child Reads initiative, which focuses on improving reading proficiency by the end of third grade. School attendance, along with summer learning and school readiness, is one of the pillars of the initiative.
As part of the Attendance Matters LCAN, the Community Foundation is convening a coalition of nonprofit and educational partners, with a shared community goal of reducing chronic absenteeism by 4%. "This committee will study the root cause issues of absenteeism and collectively build a model to systemically address them,." Horstman says.
Several organizations have already committed, including the City of Dubuque, Dubuque Area Labor Management Council, Dubuque Community School District, IowaWorks, Jackson County Campaign for Grade-level Reading, Postville Community School District, Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, United Way and the University of Dubuque.
Learn more about the Community Foundation’s academic achievement work and Every Child Reads initiative at dbqfoundation.org/ecr.
