WRIGHT: Building positive habits

Published 8:00 am Saturday, October 12, 2024

I love this quote often attributed to Aristotle: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” We are creatures of habit, and those habits are often formed by our childhood experiences. I remember watching my parents get up and head to work each day. Being present was important to them, and it became important to me as a student, athlete, young employee and now as an adult in all aspects of my life. Half the work is done when we show up, ready to do what we came to do. It becomes a habit.

One of the best habits our students can learn is the importance of attending school every day. Good attendance is a strong factor in student achievement; however, school attendance rates have changed significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, chronic absenteeism rates (students missing 10% of school days or more) in the U.S. were about 15% for the 2018-2019 school year. Post-pandemic, chronic absenteeism nearly doubled, with around 30% of students being chronically absent during the 2021-2022 school year. These trends have affected schools across all states, and this sharp increase in absenteeism is strongly associated with learning loss, particularly in standardized test scores. Research has shown that absenteeism contributed to 16-45% of declines in math and reading scores during the pandemic, depending on the subject and grade level.

What has attendance looked like in Murray County Schools? In 2018-2019, less than 10% of elementary students and 15% of middle school students were considered chronically absent, meaning they missed 16 days or more on our shortened school calendar. In 2022-2023, those numbers rose to 20% for elementary students and 22.5% for middle school students. Consider the impact of nearly a quarter of our students missing 16 days of school or more. In high school, the situation has been even more surprising. In 2018-2019, 29% of our students missed 16 days or more, and that percentage rose to 39% in 2022-2023. The good news is that attendance rates improved slightly last year. We believe we’ll see a 4% increase in elementary and middle school attendance and a 7% increase in high school attendance. However, this still means well over a quarter of our high school students were absent for 16 days or more. There is definitely work to be done.

One change we observed coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic is a different perspective on attendance. Parents are justifiably more concerned about spreading illness to other students or staff members, and when children are genuinely sick, such as having a fever or an active stomach bug, we definitely want them to stay home. From a school perspective, we don’t want sick students sitting next to others in class, but for us, communication is always key in these situations. A parent note for a short illness or a doctor’s note for a visit provides the information we need to mark an absence as excused and helps us work with your child to catch up on anything they may have missed.

As a teacher and school administrator, I felt it was my duty to help create an atmosphere and culture where my students wanted to be in class every day. On days when they might not feel great but aren’t truly sick, I wanted them to enjoy school enough to be excited and ready to catch the bus, eager to see what was happening at school that day rather than pulling the covers over their head and pleading with parents to stay home. Creating this atmosphere is our responsibility as a school system, and we’re working each day to make it a reality.

One aspect of managing attendance that can cause frustration is the issuance of attendance letters. We know students will miss school for various reasons, which is perfectly normal. However, when we lack documentation for absences or when absences become excessive, letters are sent from schools to inform parents about the number of absences a student may have. As a parent, I’ve received these letters too, and they served as great reminders of how many days my children had missed and that I had forgotten to send a note! If the absences were due to illness or other excused reasons outlined in our attendance policy found in the student handbook, parents can work with the school to submit parent notes (up to 6 notes per year) and/or doctor’s notes. When notes aren’t submitted and a student accumulates 3 and then 5 unexcused absences, attendance letters will be generated and sent home. When you receive these letters, please contact your child’s school to discuss obtaining doctor’s notes or addressing the reasons for the absences. Once a student has 8 unexcused absences, schools will reach out to arrange a meeting to discuss these absences. If unexcused absences continue to 10 or more, a school social worker will reach out to schedule a meeting. If notes are submitted for some of the absences, the timeline resets. Our Infinite Campus Parent Portal is a great resource for tracking any absences or tardies your child may have, and for students in upper grades, you can check attendance by period to ensure they’re attending all their classes.

Showing up is a good habit, whether it’s adults going to work each day or children learning the importance of attending school daily. We believe parents have a strong responsibility to help with student attendance, but we also understand we have a large part to play, as well. We want to partner with parents to instill these good attendance habits so that when our students graduate and enter the workforce, they’ve learned the values of responsibility, dependability, and resilience. The habits they build today become the character they demonstrate tomorrow.

Tim Wright is superintendent of Murray County Schools.