Charles Ovando, assistant superintendent of student support and development for Orland High School District 230, said he spent two years telling students, especially if they were sick, to “stay home, stay home, stay home” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But that message changed after schools returned to in-person instruction. The district’s rate of students missing more than 10% of school has been over three times higher than it was pre-pandemic, and District 230 is trying new strategies to improve attendance rates that have struggled.
This includes a new attendance policy, a communication campaign and one-on-one interventions with students at it’s three schools all with the goal to educate students and families that attendance matters, he said.
“Yes, you’ve been hearing if you’re symptomatic, if you’re sick, stay home for your health, and that’s 100% the right message,” he said to parents and students. “On the flip side now, 100% the right message is also, we need you in school. It matters for you. It matters for your learning.”
The district, like others across the state, has struggled with attendance rates since the pandemic. But contrary to others, District 230 had a chronic absenteeism rate that was almost three times lower than the state average, at 6%, or 445 students, before the pandemic, according to Illinois State Board of Education data.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as the number of students who miss 10% of the school year, or roughly 17 days.
The district’s absenteeism rate spiked in 2022 when classrooms returned to in-person learning and has remained at about 20%. Last year, about 19% of district students, or about 1,422 students, were chronically absent, according to ISBE data.
By school, the absenteeism rate was 21.3% at Stagg High School in Palos Hills, 18.2% at Sandburg High School in Orland Park, and 17.5% at Andrew High School in Tinley Park.
Ovando said he hopes to improve these scores with a policy implemented in August that caps the number of excused absences at eight absences before students are required to provide additional verification for missing school.
This additional verification could be a doctor’s note for students who are sick or a university note if students are missing school for a college tour, he said.
Under the previous policy, all absences were considered excused as long as they were called in by a parent or guardian, and students were able to make up missed work for full credit within a specified time frame, regardless of the reason for the absence.
He said a district analysis of attendance policies used by eight nearby, similar suburban high school districts showed District 230’s previous policy was an outlier. Compared to the other schools, he said District 230 lacked clear expectations for good attendance and reasonable guardrails for excessive absences.
“We weren’t really affirming the value of attendance,” Ovando said.
He said when students are present, they build relationships with other students and teachers and are more likely to be involved in activities, which can only promote their positive experience in school.
Higher chronic absenteeism rates have been linked to lower academic performance and an increased risk of not graduating on time, according to research reports compiled by Attendance Works, a national nonprofit initiative focused on reducing chronic absenteeism.
Ovando said chronic absenteeism also makes it hard for teachers to keep track of who was absent each day and what makeup work needs to be done, which takes up time teachers and students could be spending on learning.
“When I think of two absences, I might not think that that’s a lot, but when I think that means I might have missed 12 to 14 periods of instruction, it starts to illustrate the connection we’re trying to emphasize, which is that being in class matters,” Ovando said.
In an effort to better inform students and parents, the district launched a communication campaign called attendance matters last January and distributed new quarterly attendance progress reports. The reports categorized each students’ attendance rates into four categories, exceptional, on track, at risk or chronically absent.
“It’s really an affirming message,” he said. “It’s not really about a negative of reducing chronic absenteeism as much as it is, we want your children in school.”
The district also launched a new intervention strategy, where district staff identify students at risk for chronic absenteeism and figure out why the students are continually absent, case by case. He said, for example, if there is a transportation barrier affecting several students, the district would address that barrier.
He said that since these new policies have been implemented this year, he has already seen a 5% to 6% drop in the chronic absenteeism rate.
“I don’t want to get too excited yet about it, but it’s trending in the direction we expected,” Ovando said.
Now that the district is starting to see improvement, he said the goal is to maintain higher attendance through the end of the school year.
He also said the district’s policy could even be helpful after graduation.
“We’re trying to implement reasonable guardrails that are also reflective of what we know is true in adult professional life,” he said. “There are expectations about being present and productive in the workforce, and we think that our policy helps mimic that better and prepare students for life after high school.”
awright@chicagotribune.com
