Attendance Matters

While there Since the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the country have experienced a steady decline in attendance rates among all grade levels. The national chronic absenteeism rate has skyrocketed since the pandemic—from 16% in 2019 to an estimated 33% in 2022. 

In the graph to the left, you will see proportional attendance rates for each grade level across the Willard School District from the 2022-2023 school year in comparison to the 2018-2019 school year. Each grade level saw a decrease in attendance rates from pre-pandemic levels.

While there are several reasons attendance matters, the most important is this—attendance directly impacts student achievement. A student is considered chronically absent when they miss at least 10% of the school year—that's just two days per month! Statistics show that students who are chronically absent are at a higher risk of falling behind, scoring lower on standardized tests, and even dropping out.

These implications are not only reflected in national data, they're reflected in Willard student's data as well. The data in the following chart is based on Willard High School students only for the 23-24 school year and shows a direct correlation between attendance and GPA.

The implications are clear—by missing two days per month your student will miss 20 days of school per year, 30 hours of math, 60 hours of reading and writing, and by the time they have reached graduation, they will have missed more than one full year of school.

Double that by missing four days of school a month and your student will miss 40 days of school per year, 60 hours of math, 120 hours of reading and writing, and when they receive their diploma, they will have missed more than two full years of school. 

School attendance is a powerful predictor of student outcomes. Regardless of your student's plans after graduation, their education is important. It is our mission to produce life-ready graduates whether the plan is college, career, tech school, or military!

Did you know that the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education recommends that, at minimum, 90% of districts' population attend school 90% of the time? By missing just two days a month your student falls below the minimum state recommended instructional time. Missouri student attendance is calculated by minute, not by day. Every minute counts! 

While we know that attendance is important, we also want to create a safe and healthy learning environment. We understand absences may be required due to illness. We have created a Wellness Checklist, which is available for download here, for families to utilize when considering any symptoms their student might be experiencing before heading to school. 

Students should stay home if they have a persistent cough, temperature over 100 degrees (with or without medicine), vomiting or diarrhea, pink or crusty eyes, a skin rash, or instructions from a doctor to stay away from others. Students can head to school if they have been without any of these symptoms for 24 hours, or if they have a runny nose or slight cough but no other symptoms. These are the procedures by which the Willard School District operated through its wellness policy before the COVID-19 pandemic, and has continued to emphasize in the years following. 

If a student is sick and unable to come to school, families should notify their building's front office as soon as possible. 

The Willard School District cares about the mental well-being of our students, and we have learned that students who miss school actually tend to feel more anxious and stressed due to falling behind. Attendance Matters!