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Rockbridge County was one of 10 school districts in Virginia selected to begin a Community Schools Initiative, a state-level program which aims help students by reducing nonacademic barriers to their success.
The division received $338,000 to start the program this school year.
“As a Community School, we are hoping to assist families with overcoming barriers which keep their children from attending school, to address the mental health needs within the school, and to encourage more families to be involved in school events,” explained Cynthia Littleton, former assistant at Rockbridge County High School, who now works as a liaison for the Community Schools Initiative.
“We want to help remove the barriers which keep our students from attending school.”
Chronic absenteeism, or a student missing over 10 percent of the school year, has been an issue in county schools.
Currently, around 32% of Rockbridge’s students are counted as chronically absent.
According to Phillip Thompson, district superintendent, this may be due to ongoing challenges of the pandemic and student mental health, as well as a change in the way absentees are counted.
“Chronic absenteeism in Virginia public schools is defined as missing 10 percent or more of the academic year for any reason, including excused absences, unexcused absences, and suspensions,” Thompson explained.
“Including ‘all’ absences is a change that came about a few years ago. Now, a student illness, a doctor or dentist appointment and other things that were traditionally exempt from absentee rates now counts against this measure.”
According to the Virginia Department of Education, this change came about because the reason behind an absence is less of a concern than the potential effects of that absence.
According to VDOE’s website, “Missed instruction, regardless of the reason, can have significant academic consequences. Therefore, the broader emphasis is on improving attendance for every student.”
As absences accumulate, it becomes more and more difficult for a student to catch up.
As Littleton explained, “Students who miss school fall further and further behind until they finally give up.”
According to VDOE data, the effect of chronic absenteeism on dropout rates is cumulative. While 36% of students who were chronically absent for one year later drop out, almost 52% of students who were chronically absent for two school years later dropped out. This correlation starts as early as the first grade.
Thompson also acknowledges this issue, and wishes the consequences were more broadly understood.
“We are constantly trying to educate our families as to how absences can negatively affect academic performance and potentially negative outcomes later in life,” he told The News-Gazette.
The Virginia Department of Education is pushing educators to consider larger factors that may be driving chronic absence, such as family income, health issues, or housing insecurity.
According VDOE training materials, children from low-income families are four times more likely to be chronically absent than are their highest income peers.
Health is another major barrier, with leading health-related causes of absence being asthma and oral health issues.
The Covid pandemic has only exacerbated this issue.
“The global pandemic didn’t help us in this challenging situation. The closing of schools, and the resulting mental health challenges that are still prevalent also affect some students’ ability to consistently attend school as well,” said Thompson.
“The good news is that we have a plan and we are working more closely with families to remedy the situation. I have no doubt that our chronic absentee numbers will improve.”
As part of this plan, the Community Schools Initiative will be working on outreach, and trying to understand and potentially mitigate challenges to consistent attendance.
“Currently the Community Schools team will be looking at ways to provide the high school students with even more positive experiences,” Littleton said. “We are looking at hosting five family events which will include meals for attendees. The team will be meeting and developing a calendar soon.”
The money from the initiative also allowed Rockbridge to hire a Community Schools coordinator, Jay Rodriguez, who will serve as a point of connection between the schools and families.
“As part of our outreach, our Community Schools coordinator will be making home visits and getting to know many of our families,” said Littleton.
The division also hopes to reduce rates of truancy (student absence without parental awareness or permission) by dealing directly with families.
“Finally, the team will be working with families with students who are chronically absent in hopes that we do not have to involve the juvenile and family court system,” Littleton said.
Rockbridge works with the family court system in cases of student truancy, with the goal of finding a solution to keep kids in school without resorting to fines or legal consequences for parents where possible, according to Littleton.
Mental health of students has also been an issue, and one tied into absenteeism.
Responding to an anonymous questionnaire, 16% of Rockbridge County students reported that they had considered suicide at some point.
This number is based on student self-reporting, and does not factor in the schools’ records of students they consider to be at risk.
“This does not include number of threat assessments which we have recorded just in the last year where a student has threatened to harm themselves or another student,” Littleton explained. “Many of these students miss a significant number of days.”
While Rockbridge has struggled to keep up with the mental health needs of its students since the pandemic, it does currently have programs in place, and hopes to use the Community Schools Initiative will further support those programs.
Currently, students in need can go to the school counselor, who can connect them to resources outside the school.
One of those resources is Rockbridge Area Community Services, which provides counseling services, both virtual and in-person, to students in need. Some of the money from the grant will go towards RACS programs.
Additionally, the division brought in a speaker earlier this year to educate faculty and staff on mental health and the vocabulary around it.
Events like this one will continue throughout the year as part of the program.
Littleton believes that applying the resources from the Community Schools Initiative at the points of greatest need will allow the schools to maximize the program’s impact.
“This grant provides us with an opportunity to improve in some of the areas that may make a huge difference for some of our students and our families in need,” she said.
“As you can see, this reaches in many directions. We’re trying so hard to help our kids, to get them taken care of.”
Littleton also hopes the program will be extended beyond this year.
“The grant is for one year and will come to an end in June 2024,” she said. “I am hoping to look for additional funding to keep this initiative going. It takes more than one year to build a successful program.”
