Chester Calls For Curb in ‘Chronic’ Absenteeism

Parents looking to take an extra vacation with the kids this upcoming school year may want to plan to go during one of the regularly scheduled holidays or breaks.

At the board of education meeting last week, Chester Consolidated School District Superintendent Christina Van Woert said that the latest ranking numbers on the School Performance Reports for 21st Century College and Careers were less than ideal.

“Black River Middle School ranked 55 out of their peer school group and 75 out of the state,” Van Woert said. “Bragg was ranked 29 out of their peer group and 57 out of the state.”

According to Van Woert, the numbers are a concern because this is the one area where they grade the school.

“We don’t want the numbers to be that low,” Van Woert said.

Another issue is, there is no such thing as an acceptable absence.

“According to the state there is no excused absences,” Van Woert said. “They just look at it strictly as data.”

Van Woert said that many superintendents, herself included, took issue that the ranking for the elementary school was based solely on absenteeism, which the school has no control over. At the middle school it is slightly different.

“At Black River Middle School the ranking is based on a combination of chronic absenteeism and seventh and eighth graders completing Algebra I,” Van Woert said. “Again, we cannot control the absences, but are hoping to make people more aware of them with the new policy.”

Van Woert also said that the system isn’t perfect and at least 40 students completing geometry in the eighth grade did not get credit since they are beyond algebra. And while the state did say they would look into that for next year, there are some things Chester needs to do to in the interim.

“The actual absence rates for our schools for student who are out more than 10 days was an eye opener.  The totals were 26 percent for Dickerson, 29 percent for Bragg and 21percent for Black River Middle School,” Van Woert said.

And while that may seem like a lot, it isn’t when spread out over the course of the year.

“It really breaks down to about one absence a month,” Van Woert said.

The board said they would look at the issue more through their curriculum committee and Van Woert said she would include information in her newsletter. The board also said they would consider defining chronic absenteeism on report cards.