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School districts in both ends of Kentucky are experiencing a continued downward trend in attendance and an increase in “chronic absenteeism” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, state and school officials told a legislative committee Tuesday.
According to knowledge shared at the meeting, eastern and western Kentucky regions report that average school attendance has decreased by 2% or more, and regular school absenteeism and chronic absenteeism have increased by 15%.
Fayette County Public Schools are facing problems, Fayette Director of Student Personnel Steve Hill and district spokeswoman Dia Davidson Smith told the Herald-Leader.
A Kentucky Department of Education presentation to the Joint Committee on Education on Tuesday said knowledge of eastern and western Kentucky regions shows that, when comparing the 2018-2019 year to 2022-2023:
Average attendance is about 92 percent, a decrease of between 2 and 2. 5 percent.
Typical absenteeism is around 25-30%, with an increase of around 15%.
Chronic absenteeism hovers around 30%, with an increase of 15%.
Chay Ritter, director of Kentucky’s District Support Division, said a student would be chronically absent, for example, if they missed 17 days in the maximum school calendar.
Before COVID, the absenteeism rate was around 18. 5%.
Fayette officials did not attend the legislative meeting, but told the Herald-Leader that average daily attendance declined 2. 26% between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023. Typical absenteeism is 21. 18%. Chronic absenteeism stands at 29. 05%.
“Fayette County Public Schools continues to collaborate with families in student assistance. We know that the more days children spend in the classroom, consistently, the higher their levels of educational achievement will be,” Davidson-Smith said.
“We have groups that are committed to families and the overall school experience of students. . . From classroom competitions to school popularity programs, we do artistic things to encourage, maintain and celebrate school attendance,” she said.
The scenario has been heightened in Fayette County in recent weeks, district officials said.
The average daily attendance rate from August 1 to September 30 was 93. 48%. This was 94. 29% for 2023-2024.
“Our average club has about 214 students compared to the same time last year, but excused and unexcused absences are down,” Hill said.
The Department of Education provides help to districts for chronic absenteeism, said Matthew Courtney, policy advisor for the Office of Ongoing Improvement and Support, adding webinars and tools that show which students are most at risk of becoming habitual absentees.
“We’re not back to where we were before” deep in the pandemic, said Joey Kilburn, director of the Simpson County School District’s school worker corps.
“Some other people have lost the meaning of their upbringing,” Kilburn said. He said attitudes and behavior want to change. Schools want to be in a position that academics want to be in.
Marci Prater, school worker body director for the Boyd County School District, said that in districts that include Carter, Boyd, Paintsville Independent, Ashland Independent, Raceland Independent, Barren, Butler, Logan and Simpson, average daily attendance decreased about 2%. There has been a significant increase in truancy, as well as an increase in chronic absenteeism.
Classrooms have been affected since students returned after schools closed because of the pandemic, Prater said.
State Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, said he and education committee co-chair Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, are heavily involved with the situation.
“Let’s go into that conversation,” Tipton said.