Subcommittee outlines targeted interventions as chronic absenteeism falls

The education subcommittee discussed interventions aimed at lowering chronic absenteeism after staff presented a decline in the district’s chronic-absence counts.

District staff described three Saturday school sessions serving about 20–26 students each and said they are using phone outreach and a dialer system to notify parents. Staff also described plans to print data from EduCLIMBER and Aeries to create intervention lists and to meet with site attendance clerks and principals to determine which students need phone calls or referrals.

Committee members emphasized the role of counselors in addressing underlying causes, including mental-health referrals and family crises. A committee member noted that reducing bullying likely contributed to improved engagement at one site. Staff said some absences are excused for illness and that independent study can be used for short absences, but warned independent study does not replace in-person instruction and may not fully mitigate academic loss.

Members directed staff to continue targeted outreach, coordinate district-level follow-up when schools lack progress, and to refine how data appear in CALPADS and public dashboards.