PETERSBURG, Va. — Petersburg School leaders started a campaign to reach truant students and their families after a surge in absences.
The district launched “2 Days is Too Many” over the weekend. Two days of absences a month by November is an issue, said Director of Student Support Services Dr. Tyrus Lyles.
Lyles said students who have missed at least two days a month are on track to miss 18 days by June. The student would then be considered chronically absent.
Teachers and administrators physically went into the neighborhoods to meet with the absent students and their families over the weekend.
Lyles shared the spiel he told parents and guardians.
“Good afternoon. We're here to talk to you about attendance from PCPS. We see that your student has not been attending. So, we want to see what's going on and how we can help. Here's some resources that we have. Also, we have other means of transportation if your kid can't get to school, so tell us what we can do to help get your student in school every day,” he explained.
Petersburg Schools said more than 15% of the student population is on track for chronic absenteeism.
Already, more than 1,300 students have missed at least four days of school.
Lyles shared at Wednesday’s school board meeting that nearly 46% of Petersburg High School students were chronically absent as of Oct. 26. At Pittman Academy, that’s 50% of the student population.
“It's a personal hurt, I think, for all of us because we're all focused on our kids being successful. So, when one doesn't show up or one doesn't do well, then we don't do well as a district. I think that it's incumbent upon all of us to see that attendance is important,” he explained.
Students told school leaders that the number one reason for skipping school is because class isn’t “fun.”
“During the day, I may have to work hard in my classes. But, at the end of the day, I have all these extracurricular activities and things that I can do that are fun. Also, within the classes, there has to be something in your class day that's fun,” Dr. Lyles stated. “There's no way you're going to school all day long and there's nothing that's fun in your class. So, I think it's about what you make out of, as well.”
In order to keep accreditation with the Virginia Department of Education, a school district's absentee rate must be less than 15%. Right now, Petersburg Schools have already reached that percentage this school year.
