Root Causes of Chronic Absenteeism by Sarah Bustard

2024-06-17 14:18:03 UTC

They need a connection to the school.

Maslow achieve success to address to physical and emotional well-being of the child.

Mental health of the adults in the building because until we have self regulated adults leading the classroom we can’t have healthy children

On-site resources

Partnerships with our local mental health

Missing 10% of the year is a letter grade and if you do that K-12 you are missing an entire letter grade

It impacts them into adult life and our economy and their workforce skills.

2024-06-17 19:48:57 UTC

Mental health is an issue that is forever growing and there is a great need for it to be addressed. It is vital that we focus not only those individuals who have evident mental health issues, but those who struggle with acknowledging it. We have to encourage individuals to seek help and understand there is nothing to be ashamed about. When it comes to chronic absenteeism it is vital we encourage students and families as well as engage them. It is important to ensure students are excited to attend school and are actively involved.

2025-04-28 19:04:14 UTC

We need more School counselors. When you have only two counselors for 600 students, there is no way to provide services for all the students.

2025-04-28 19:04:24 UTC

Increase in mental health needs have doubled. Need new strategies even though there have always been issues with truancy. Increase in nationwide truancy rates!

Wow!

2025-04-28 19:04:57 UTC

This is great information. How do we translate this into our school system? Teachers will say they are not mental health professionals. Do we REALLY understand the state of mental health and what it requires to turn this ship of chronic absenteeism around?

2025-04-28 19:05:05 UTC

Anxiety, depression, and stress are keeping kids out of class and making it harder for them to learn when they are here. We need more support to target the needs of such a large number of students.

2025-04-28 19:05:34 UTC

Chronic absenteeism has many root causes, but more often than not we see the link to mental health. It is important that we address the mental health needs of our students and their families to not only support, but create connectedness for our families in our community. When we work as a community it supports the good of the whole. The community needs to pull together.

2025-04-28 19:05:39 UTC

We often spend time focusing on the students when we really need to focus more on the adults in the home and who contribute to ensuring students to get to school. Meeting the needs of the adults in the home (partnering with resources outside of the school) is important to support attendance.

2025-04-28 19:07:56 UTC

Though chronic absenteeism rates have declined, this continues to be a significant issue that creates learning gaps for many students. It is imperative that all adults in each school be a part of developing solutions for students and in engaging parents/guardians and families. Each student needs a trusted adult at school and training for all staff to effectively support students at risk for chronic absenteeism is imperative.

Beyond school staff, community agencies and mental health providers can play a key role in helping students manage underlying mental health issues that can cause students to be frequently absent from school.