REEDLEY, Calif. (KSEE) – Kings Canyon Unified School District prides itself on consistently high attendance rates because students love coming to class.
“We want to focus on the culture and climate here at school, where children feel comfortable and love being here. Our teachers have open doors and very warm classrooms. We have,” Washington Elementary School Principal Greg Visser said.
But like many school districts, Kings Canyon saw its absentee rate jump from an average of about 6% to 14% after the pandemic.
“We were experiencing the greatest absenteeism, especially with kindergartners and TKs,” Visser said.
Washington Elementary School Principal Greg Visser said he has reached out to parents to educate them and let them know that it is not only safe for their children to return to class, but necessary.
“We need to do a better job of communicating how important that is by educating our kids that every time they miss school in that grade, they miss out on more reading instruction. ” says Visser.
The district offered incentives to older students for good attendance and provided social workers to attend to students' social and emotional needs.
“When they come to my office, we discuss some of the concerns that we’re seeing,” says Sebastian Villacenia, a social worker at Kings Canyon Unified. “They will start sharing the barriers they face and what makes it difficult for them to come to school.”
We also conducted home visits to connect with chronically absent children and provided independent learning opportunities to help students catch up.
“We have to look at each student individually, consider their individual needs, and create an individualized plan,” Villacenia said.
Kings Canyon's approach to addressing chronic absenteeism has been recognized by the state. The state was one of 20 districts in California that scored below the state average.
“We want our kids here, we care about them, we want them to succeed, and we want them to continue to progress and continue to build their educational careers and be successful. “I hope they do,” Visser said.
