A new study has found that one in five Texas students regularly miss school, exacerbating the state’s school funding problem and increasing the risk of students dropping out of school.
According to an investigation by the Associated Press and Stanford University economist Thomas Dee, one in five students in Texas missed at least 10% of the 2022-23 school year. Students who missed at least 10% of their school year are considered chronically absent.
Chronic absenteeism is a major problem, for both students and for schools. In Texas, state funding for schools is tied to average daily attendance. This means that when students miss school, districts lose money that could be used to improve educational outcomes for all students.
Students who miss school regularly also are more likely to fall behind academically, miss out on services like meals and counseling, and are at a higher risk of dropping out.
To address the problem, Texas school districts have adopted innovative strategies. According to the Dallas Morning News, Irving ISD has implemented automated text notifications that alert parents that their children are missing school regularly. The text is written in the language families speak at home and translates parents’ answers to teachers. Then, teachers ask if there is something they can do to help get the children back to school.
Reny Lizardo, the district’s campus operations director, said that sometimes the solution is to offer parents some services. For example, in Irving there are plenty of families struggling to take their children to school, so Lizardo’s team would offer them DART passes or connect them with a student-friendly rideshare program.
“Those are all services we can offer to them — if we just know, if we’re able to make that connection,” he told the Morning News.
In Garland ISD, federal pandemic relief funds were used to create a team of retention specialists who made home visits to students with poor attendance. These specialists worked closely with families to understand and address the complex reasons behind absenteeism. However, now that the funding dwindles, having retention specials is becoming more difficult.
The problem of absenteeism is complex, and, according to the AP, since the pandemic student and parents became more accepting of missing school, whether due to mental health concerns, illness, or other reasons. However, absenteeism also disproportionately affects low-income students.
“They have the least amount of access to healthy food. They have the least amount of access to transportation,” Dallas ISD Stephanie Elizalde said. “Many times our children have stayed home to help take care of a sick sibling or they have to take care of their parents.”
In response to the ongoing absenteeism crisis, Texas has reformed its truancy policies, shifting from punitive measures to a more supportive approach. Districts are now required to implement truancy prevention measures before referring students to court.
