Highlands looks to combat poor student attendance with rewards, repercussions

Highlands High School Principal Laura Burns said students find greater success in the classroom when they attend school regularly.

But getting kids to school appears to be a problem.

Administrators are fighting to buoy dismal attendance rates at the high school, as data show that only about 70% of the 680 students make it to class regularly, as defined by state benchmarks. That’s about 475 students.

“I don’t like to see these numbers. Nobody does,” Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said.

Mawhinney is focusing on small gains made since 2019 when Highlands was designated by the state for Additional Targeted Support and Improvement.

The state definition of regular attendance is for students to attend 90% or more of scheduled school days, regardless of the reason for the absence. Students meet regular attendance goals if they have 18 or fewer absences per year.

Casey Smith, communications director for the state Department of Education, said a student is considered absent if they are not physically participating in instruction or instruction-related activities on school grounds or at an approved off-grounds location.

The state’s attendance goal is 94%.

Highlands’ attendance was 70% for the 2021-22 school year, up from 66% the previous year.

“Research indicates there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between student attendance and academic achievement and other student outcomes,” Smith said, “so the purpose of the indicator is to identify the percentage of students in a school or in a student group who are at risk of not meeting the on-track performance standards because of missed hours of direct instruction.”

Burns said administrators expect numbers to continue crawling upward, but work is being done to boost the rate more swiftly.

An arsenal of rewards and repercussions is in place to spur student engagement and increase the number of students who show up consistently.

“We are throwing around the idea of having a board game reward at the end of the semester for students that have 90% attendance and an ice cream social at the end of the second semester,” Burns said.

Decisions will be driven by the student core team, which is scheduled to meet in the coming week.

Classes will start at Highlands on Wednesday, Aug. 31.

To combat the woeful numbers, the district launched a multitiered strategic plan to engage students and keep families accountable.

Leaders outlined several tools the district is utilizing to meet state goals:

• Mailing letters home to every student who missed more than 10 days during the 2021-22 school year. Leaders offered to meet to discuss early intervention for this year.

• High school teachers are scheduled to present a Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports lesson during the first week of school on the importance of attendance. The team will continue to reward students for showing up.

• Follow-up meetings and interventions for students who struggle with attendance.

Through rigorous and detailed initiatives, Burns said, Highlands plans to hit the state goal by 2030.

Mawhinney said the current numbers don’t sit well with district officials, but she is focused on recent strides.

“We have seen small gains and will continue to,” she said.

Last year, Mawhinney launched a Career and Workforce Readiness Program for students across all grades, which, when implemented, will customize instruction for career readiness.

The idea is for students to home in on their passions and start thinking early on about life after high school. It’s a plan that leaders hope will draw more students back to class.

“The idea is they will attend more if they know what they want to do,” Mawhinney said. “We’re hoping to get their attention and excite them with project-based learning.”

Burns said district officials hope the career pathways help students to focus their course selections on subjects that will engage them in learning and make them want to come to school.

“We anticipate students seeing greater value in what they are learning to their future and hope that makes them want to engage more in their classes,” Burns said.