WDBJ7 INVESTIGATES: Roanoke City and County Schools facing attendance crisis

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Since the pandemic, schools across the nation, and here in Virginia, are reporting a steep rise in Chronic Absenteeism.

It’s a term used by schools to measure attendance. A student is considered chronically absent by the Virginia Department of Education if they miss 10% of the school year, which is 18 days.

According to VDOE, 27% of students in the Roanoke City School district were chronically absent during the 2022-2023 school year. That means close to a third of students missed 18 or more days of school last year.

“We cannot educate our children if our children are not there in school,” Roanoke City Schools Chief Academic Officer Archie Freeman told WDBJ7. Overseeing Chronic Absenteeism has become one of his most important tasks. Freeman said the district has implemented several messaging systems for parents, like phone calls, letters and in-person meetings. If their children continue to miss school, the school then moves forward with a court docket.

In the United States, it’s illegal not to send your child to school. That means parents could face a judge over absenteeism issues.

Right now, nine Roanoke City Schools are listed by the Virginia Department of Education as Level Three for Chronic Absenteeism, based off data from 2022-2023. That includes all five of the district’s middle schools and its two high schools.

Level three means 25% or more of the students are chronically absent.

“The impetus to look at absenteeism is a fairly new requirement that actually comes down from the Federal level and then the state level as well, and so it was defined as if a student misses more than ten percent of the school year for any reason,” Roanoke County Superintendent Ken Nicely explained.

Overall, the Virginia Department of Education reports about 15% of Roanoke County students were chronically absent this past school year.

Across Virginia, the rate is even higher, sitting at 19.5% for the 2022-2023 school year. State Superintendent Lisa Coons said combating Chronic Absenteeism has become a major initiative.

“We have had a campaign across the state and our school divisions are really working collaboratively with us to talk to families about the importance of attendance,” Coons told WDB7′s Chloe Vincente.

With recent Standards of Learning assessments confirming learning loss in many students, school districts everywhere are being tested, and the pressure to pass is higher than ever.

“I’m pleading with parents,” Freeman said. “Please, send your child to school.”

The impacts of absenteeism no longer only fall on the students. While learning loss is already an issue post-pandemic, Chronic Absenteeism could also impact school accreditation.

“We do have several schools where if the trends were to continue that would become in jeopardy for future years,” Nicely explained.

While the Chronic Absenteeism component was waived for school accreditation during the pandemic, the state is back to adhering to the attendance requirements.

Here’s what VDOE told us in an email statement:

“Schools in Virginia are accredited, accredited with conditions, and, as a last resort, accreditation denied. Schools with issues regarding chronic absenteeism would be “accredited with conditions” and would be required to complete a corrective action plan and work with fidelity to fulfill that plan. There has not been a case where a school has been placed as “accreditation denied” due to chronic absenteeism, and there actually are no schools currently in the state in the “accreditation denied” status.”