Cascade School District aims to improve student attendance

LEAVENWORTH — Cascade School District is working to reduce chronic absenteeism, with a goal of having 85% of students maintain regular attendance, up from 82.2% last school year.

“Overall, we're trending in the right direction. We’re definitely not where we want to be,” said Cascade High School Assistant Principal Annika Bibby.

During an Oct. 27 school board meeting, Bibby outlined the implementation and early results of evidence‑based strategies from North Central Educational Service District’s ATTEND Network. The network helps schools and districts find ways to improve attendance and reduce long-term academic and social impacts; both Icicle River Middle and Cascade High schools are participating.

Bibby said the network has helped with tracking attendance data efficiently, leveraging social media for outreach, and improving attendance letters to parents, which are sent home after two or more unexcused absences.

“It's really most helpful to be supportive and work alongside our families…rather than be strictly informative,” said Bibby.

Chronic absenteeism emerged as a serious challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. rate of chronic absenteeism reached about 31% in the 2021-2022 school year, with states reporting a slow rebound over the following years.

It is typically defined as missing at least 10% of school days, excused or unexcused, which equates to approximately 18 days in a school year. In Washington, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) tracks regular attendance, defined as missing fewer than two days of school per month.

OSPI State Report Card data show that the percentage of Washington state students not meeting that standard rose from fewer than 10% before the pandemic to 32.8% in the 2021-22 school year. Last school year, 25.7% of students still fell short of the regular attendance standard.

Overall, attendance has improved across the district at a faster rate than state totals, but it has yet to make a full recovery. Last year, 17.8% of CSD students were not meeting regular attendance standards, compared to 33.4% in 2021-2022, according to OSPI. In the 2019-2020 school year, only 6.1% of students failed to maintain regular attendance.

Rates of absenteeism have been slightly higher in the high school. Last year, 19.3% of students were not reaching regular attendance, compared to a pre-pandemic rate of 7%.

Early calculations have shown a small improvement this year. Looking at September and October, approximately 15% of students were chronically absent each month. Bibby said some of the absences were due to vacations and illnesses spreading through the district.

“At this point in time, those aren't the greatest rates…So we're going to be doing a deep dive and looking at specific students and what we can do to best target and support them,” said Bibby.

According to Bibby, the attendance team will continue to track data throughout the year. They plan to meet with chronically absent students to emphasize the importance of attendance, understand the root causes, and help find ways to support, such as making referrals to the student services team or community resources.

“I just wanted to briefly say thank you for [making] attendance a priority…I think it's important for kids to be in school,” community member Kevin Rieke told the Cascade School Board.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media