In Part One, we looked at student absentee data across the region. What we saw was a strong correlation between student attendance and the length of time schools stayed closed for Covid. Now we’re going to explore that connection: why do school closures that ended a year and a half ago appear to be haunting our attendance records - and hurting our bottom line? Let’s dive right in!

Student Mental Health in America: The Kids Are Not Ok

National studies show us that students - especially older children - experienced a whole slew of devastating impacts as a result of extended remote schooling:

They lost friends.
They lost access to school-based mental health supports… (schools are the sole provider of these services for 35% of children) …and outside mental health services have been hard to come by.
Familial abuse and maltreatment went un or under–reported.
Their basic needs (hunger) weren’t met.
Their routines were disrupted, unpredictable, and unstructured
Online learning itself was frustrating and hard.

Grief compounded this stress: 200,000 students lost a caregiver to COVID.

There’s also COVID-19 illness, itself. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, contracting the virus “nearly triples children’s risk of new mental health problems.”

We also know now that older children were disproportionately impacted. Stanford University released a report last month that found pandemic stress “prematurely aged teenagers’ brains by three to four years.” (Quote) (Study)

This complicated cocktail of physical, emotional, neurological and academic trauma has left public schools with a national trend (and a local crisis) of declining student attendance:

“Nearly half of schools saw worsening student absenteeism in the past year, and 70 percent of schools haven’t recovered their pre-pandemic attendance rates.” (Source)

Student Mental Health in Richmond: …Really, really, not Ok

All of this is true for students in Richmond Public Schools. Back in October, the School Board (and the public) got an update on the state of student mental health in the district. Unfortunately, it is not only bad - it’s worsening:

The number of Richmond students referred for Suicide Risk Assessments or to Child Protective Services more than doubled between 2020-21 and 2021-2022 school years - and we’re on pace to smash those records in 2022-23.
There were 310 “Case referrals to Child Savers” all of last year. Three weeks into 2022-23, there had already been 221.

“The numbers are appalling, and they are astounding, and it is overwhelming. I have to literally stop my crisis response for one school, in order to start one for two other schools.
So I just say that to say… We have fabulous school counselors, incredible psychologists, social workers, behavioral specialists, student support specialists - and me! - and it’s not enough. It is not enough. And people are working incredibly hard to get the right supports to our children.
This only speaks to a small portion of our kids. This doesn’t speak to the child that shows up every day, who is still making the grades, and is hurting on the inside. We don’t have data points to capture those kids.”
- Angela Jones, Saint & RPS Director of Climate, Culture, and Student Services (watch)

But how does this translate into student absences? And what can we do about it?

The Mental Health & Absenteeism Crisis

The mental health crisis is really impacting attendance in two ways:

1. These stressed out kids aren’t coming to school.

“Rates of anxiety in particular have skyrocketed in the last few years. Studies find this chronic stress not only interferes with learning and memory and social-emotional development, but can lead some students to avoid school entirely—worsening chronic absenteeism.” (Source)

This phenomenon is called “School Avoidance” - though my family called it “School Strike.” (I very much witnessed this phenomenon first hand. It’s the pits.) Kids transitioning between school levels most often report school avoidance; ages: 5-6, 10-11, 16-18. Unfortunately, these absences often beget more absences. Students are embarrassed for missing school, or fearful of judgment, and whither under the weight of anticipated make-up work. All the while, their relationships within the school community break down. School Avoidance is a cyclical pattern - and it’s hard to break.

Then - when anxious kids do make it to school - they often have to endure a chaotic classroom environment, because…

2. Stressed out kids are acting out.

Districts across the country are reporting anywhere from a 7-47% “increase in infractions for fighting compared with the 2018-19 school year.” This trend holds true for Virginia classrooms, too. In a recent JLARC report, teachers cite student (mis)behavior as the “most serious issue” they face in the post-pandemic classroom. (A 6 year old gun-child’s assault on an elementary school teacher certainly underscores this concern.)

Here in Richmond, this is evidenced by the many (many, many) student fight videos posted to social media. We’ve seen our share of weapons, too: from multiple knives found on students this fall, to the routine presence of guns on campus.

Surprisingly, schools across the country report that suspensions are down. Teachers and Administrators understand that the post-pandemic escalation in misbehavior is the result of the various traumas noted above, and so choose trauma-informed practices over the punitive measures favored in the past.

Students who do get suspended, though, rack up absences while they await their disciplinary hearings. Richmond’s School Board repeatedly discusses this at meetings, considering policies and practices that can keep students learning (and marked “present”) while they wait. (More on this in a bit.)

I imagine, like School Avoidance, these absences beget more absences, too. The further these students fall behind, the more hopeless they may feel to catch up. Perhaps that’s why we see such a steady attendance drop-off (and drop-out) of Richmond high schoolers.

I would love to know if the fewer-suspensions trend applies to RPS, too; and how many days, on average, students are missing school for suspensions. Of course, much of this data is concealed from the public to protect student privacy.

Physical Health & Chronic Absenteeism

Covid aside, kids are more sick, more often. This fall, we saw a “tridemic” surge in RSV, flu, and covid variants that filled pediatric units across the country. Unfortunately, many of the same politicians who favor the “if you don’t care enough about your education to show up to school, then I’m not going to pay for it” approach to state funding, staunchly oppose public health measures and investment that would lessen the community spread of these illnesses. Something about “face diapers,” Idk.

Teacher Absenteeism

Ok, so teacher attendance doesn’t impact our state funding… but it’s worth noting - particularly as we discuss the chaotic classroom environment, and the significance of school relationships for school-avoidant children.

In 2015, an average of 29% of teachers were chronically absent. That number has since ballooned:

“In 2021-22 alone, 49 percent of schools had higher chronic teacher absenteeism and 39 percent had higher student chronic absenteeism compared to the prior school year.” (source)

I imagine that declining job satisfaction plays a role here, with “burnout” leading to more mental health days. And teachers are not immune to the “tridemic” of illness, either - they may get sick, or they may need to miss work to look after their own sick children.

This is also a devastating cycle for the health of a school system - because all of this is playing out at a time when it’s really difficult to find a sub. This puts an increased burden on the teachers who do show up to teach those students, and may burn out quicker under the excess work load.

Teacher absenteeism also hurts student performance (in all the ways you would expect). For example: every 10 days a teacher is absent, their students experience a “decline between 1.7% to 3.3% of a standard deviation in math achievement.”

Health Policies to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism

Increase Social Time: Increase social time to help rebuild student relationships and confidence. Extend the school day, double the recess. Studies do indicate that additional time for social-emotional skill development has a “moderate” impact on students with attention and hyperactivity disorders, which we know boomed in the pandemic.
Increase Class Time: There are obvious academic-y reasons to do this - like the increase in math, writing, and literacy achievement - and plenty of precedent, too. (Especially in urban districts like ours!) I don’t know that this will get our students ahead, necessarily, but it may counteract the effects of teacher absenteeism.
Invest in Mental Health Personnel: This is important both to meet the varied and growing needs of the students, and to unburden teaching staff.
Train Staff in Mental Health First Aid. These include the de-escalation and conflict resolution tactics that can really benefit the whole school environment. Students need to see this behavior modeled, and practice applying these strategies themselves.
Load up on auxiliary staff. I really think the key to driving down teacher absenteeism (and improving teacher satisfaction) is making sure the school is flush with people who can take the extra work off their hands. Doctors don’t do their own blood draws, and teachers shouldn’t be monitoring lunch and recess.
Expand Virtual learning programs to provide gap-instruction for suspended students awaiting disciplinary hearings - ideally, this is done in the school, in dedicated, monitored, facilitated-learning spaces.

If all that fails - I don’t know, bring in puppies and kittens for students to snuggle, I guess. There are countless ways we can help. Our challenge in underfunded RPS will be prioritizing the most efficient solutions.

I firmly believe that RPS can reduce Chronic Absenteeism; but at the end of the day, I don't think we can meet or beat the national (17%) or state (20%) averages until our elected city, state, and federal leaders beef up support for our most vulnerable populations. We know what we need - housing affordability and availability, health care reform, expanding public transportation, and equipping people with the job skills and opportunities they need to succeed - we just need political leaders with the will to do it.

Policy Proposals to Address Chronic Absenteeism (Pt 2)