September is National Attendance Awareness Month, an occasion to highlight the connection between regular attendance and student success. This is especially relevant in Atlanta, where many students do not attend class.
There are many reasons why any student might be absent a few days of the year. While not ideal, this occurrence is common and likely won’t have lasting impacts. However, chronic absenteeism, measured by a student missing 10 percent or more of the school year (typically 18 or more days), can have a significant impact, including diminished health and fewer job opportunities later in life.
The pandemic exacerbated an existing problem. In 2019, 15 percent of Atlanta Public Schools students were chronically absent, but the next year that rate jumped to 38 percent and has not fallen. Attendance was even worse for economically disadvantaged students, 47 percent of whom were chronically absent. Surrounding counties are doing better, but still see concerning numbers, with Clayton County reporting a nearly 31 percent chronic absenteeism rate and Cobb County reporting 23 percent.
We’re less than three months into the 2024-2025 academic school year, and families are facing challenges that include the growing housing affordability crisis. According to a recent article in the Atlanta Civic Circle, nearly 2% of the 631,274 public school students in the five-county metro area live on the streets, in shelters or extended-stay motels, double up with other families, or are couch-surfing. Families lacking a permanent residence contribute to chronic absenteeism and stop gaps in their students’ education.
This isn’t just an Atlanta problem. Nationally, chronic absenteeism has almost doubled and now includes 14.7 million of the roughly 50 million students enrolled in public schools. Children living in poverty, children of color, and children with disabilities are disproportionately represented. This learning loss could represent a more than $2 trillion loss in expected lifetime earnings.
We cannot accept this as the new normal.
While no one cause can take the blame for rising absenteeism, there are several barriers that can affect attendance, including health problems, lack of safe transportation, and food insecurity. Lori Miller at the Truancy Intervention Project explained to the Atlanta Civic Circle how many children in Atlanta have experienced multiple traumas with family deaths, financial struggles, and more.
“Very rarely is it just a kid who doesn’t want to go to school. Often, there are all kinds of barriers in their life,” she told the ACC.
Nationally, some schools have experienced success by utilizing tiered and individualized systems and building a network of support that extends beyond the schools’ walls. Atlanta schools are using new technology to do just that. DeKalb and Fulton County schools have been using EveryDayLabs to send mail and text nudges, offering reminders and support for families. These automated messages only kick in after several absences, intentionally targeting students at risk of chronic absenteeism.
“We really shifted from a truancy-focused attendance lens to a chronic absenteeism lens, and with chronic absenteeism, it’s about re-engagement, where truancy is about … threatening language and consequences,” Charity Trowbridge, Fulton County School’s director of attendance and improvement, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Fulton County reported a nearly four percent decrease in chronic absenteeism during the 2023-24 school year.
One school in particular was the Barack and Michelle Obama Academy, which saw increased school attendance with the investment of a family and community engagement grant from RedefinED Atlanta. The support of the grant helped the school’s Never Been Absent (NBA) program, designed to engage parents and caregivers in deeper conversations with families around academics and attendance. Among the 31 scholars who participated in the pilot program, 10 showed continuous improvement in attendance throughout the school year.
In closing, September’s National Attendance Awareness Month serves as a critical reminder of the profound impact that regular school attendance has on our students’ futures, particularly here in Atlanta. While we face significant challenges—from the lingering effects of the pandemic to socio-economic barriers—it’s essential to recognize that we have the power to foster change. By understanding the root causes of chronic absenteeism and supporting our schools in innovative ways, we can help create an environment where every student feels valued and motivated to attend.
Let’s make attendance a priority, not just in September, but every day of the year.