GERVAIS, Ore. — Since the pandemic, schools across the country and in Oregon have struggled with chronic absenteeism. A student is chronically absent if they miss more than 10% of school.
The problem is common for large and small school districts, as well as districts in rural and urban areas.
"Students who are not in school, who do not attend school, you know they're more likely to get in trouble," said Julie Powers, an administrator in the Gervais School District.
Lawmakers are looking to help curb the problem.
"It is not one thing; it is a multiple facet of things," Rep. Hoa Nguyen said.
Before being elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, Nguyen worked in Portland Public Schools with chronically absent students. Now, she plans to craft legislation for the 2025 session, which could help school districts bring kids back to class.
"Right now, our current strategy at the very moment is to see what the current investments are right now and see what's working and what's not working,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen convened lawmakers on Friday to search for effective strategies. Once they learn what works, Nguyen said they will distribute information statewide, while still giving districts the ability to address unique challenges.
"Attendance is not a one-size-fits-all model," Nguyen said.
Higher absentee issues are seen among kindergartners, as well as freshman and seniors in high school, Nguyen said.
"We don't transition them well enough," she added.
The state also recently found that LGBTQ+ kids are more often chronically absent. That data wasn’t known until the state further specified criteria it looked to find, Nguyen said.
What Gervais does
In Gervais, the small school district has slashed chronic absenteeism rates among elementary and middle school students.
Chronic absenteeism rates in kindergarten through fifth grade dropped from 40% to 28% this year, Powers said. In middle school, 70% of students are regular attendees. That’s up from 53% a year ago.
"I think a lot of it is awareness. We send home monthly postcards," Powers said.
Gervais also offers incentives to students, like popcorn parties, for kids who attend more than 90% of class in a given month. There are also family game nights to strengthen families' connections to school.
There are cases when incentives don’t work. In those situations, staff meet with students, Powers said. Then, they offer parenting classes, essentially sit-down meetings with parents to discuss the repercussions of missed school.
Currently, though, school districts can only offer positive reinforcement or interviews with parents to fix the problems.
"We don't have any teeth," Powers said.
Since the pandemic, truancy fines have been gone. Salem-Keizer staff previously told KGW the return of truancy fines would allow them to more effectively bring kids back to class, though in Gervais, the district still takes kids to court, even if fines are not allowed.
“What we give them is court ordered parenting classes," Powers said.
Those meetings after a court order are with both parents and students. In court, Gervais staff recommend students reach 90% attendance for the month.
While there aren’t any ‘teeth’ to the action, Powers said it is effective.
"That is the biggest thing about all of this is trying to find a creative approach,” Powers said.