EVERETT — One of every five students in the Everett and Marysville school districts were chronically absent from classes last year, according to state data.
To be chronically absent means a student missed at least 18 days in one school year, the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction says.
That’s 10 percent of the 180-day academic year, or about two absences per month. The state data, released earlier this month, includes excused absences for illness, events or emergencies. It does not distinguish those from truancy, or missing school without explanation.
Marysville and Everett had the highest student absentee rates in Snohomish County.
In Marysville, 22.03 percent of nearly 11,000 students missed at least 18 days during the 2014-15 school year.
In Everett, the rate was 21.78 percent among more than 19,000 students.
Statewide, 16 percent of students were chronically absent. That’s about 174,000 kids.
The Granite Falls and Stanwood-Camano school districts also were above the state average for absentee rates last year. Most Snohomish County districts fell below the state rate. Monroe and Sultan had the best student attendance.
This is the first time the state has released this data, said Kristen Jaudon, a spokeswoman for OSPI. The plan is to share it annually in order to track the success of attendance improvement programs and to find out what districts with few absentees are doing right.
“We’re sharing data to help students and districts work together,” she said.
Everett school officials worry the data may be misleading because it lumps excused absences with truancy. There’s a difference between a student missing four class periods for a doctor’s appointment and missing days with no explanation, spokeswoman Mary Waggoner said.
“All of the districts need some time to analyze the data and troubleshoot this report,” she said.
Everett schools have an on-staff expert who specializes in working with truant students. Officials send information to families about the consequences of missing school. High school success coordinators talk to teens who are struggling and every school has an improvement plan that touches on ways to keep kids in class, Waggoner said.
Students who are frequently absent in early grades tend to fall behind in reading and math, according to the state. High schoolers are less likely to graduate if they miss more than 10 percent of the school year.
The state data will be useful in evaluating programs to improve attendance, said Ray Houser, assistant superintendent in Marysville. The absentee rate there for 2014-15 was about 3 percentage points higher than typically seen, he said. Some of that likely is related to the October 2014 shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School that left five students dead.
The district is participating in a multi-year grant program to bring in more mental health services, he said. Administrators hope voters will pass a bond soon to upgrade aging schools and make for cleaner, safer learning environments. The district also is researching community truancy boards, Houser said.
Monroe had the best attendance rate in the county. The district has high school success coordinators and others focused specifically on helping students who are often absent, spokeswoman Rosemary O’Neil said. There are afterschool and lunchtime programs where students mentor each other, and there are events during the summer and start of the year to welcome high school freshmen. The district had a truancy board for a few years but decided to disband it because it was less effective than connecting with students during school hours, she said.
“There are very many reasons young people don’t come to school and you can’t just assume you know what else is going on,” O’Neil said.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
Student absenteeism
| School district | Students chronically absent |
|---|---|
| Monroe | 10.11% |
| Sultan | 10.94% |
| Lake Stevens | 11.5% |
| Northshore | 11.97% |
| Mukilteo | 12.36% |
| Edmonds | 12.65% |
| Arlington | 13.54% |
| Snohomish | 13.96% |
| Lakewood | 15.47% |
| Stanwood-Camano | 17.34% |
| Granite Falls | 18.39% |
| Everett | 21.78% |
| Marysville | 22.03% |
| Statewide | 16.00% |
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