“It Takes A Village”

A Committed District Leadership

A successful strategy to create meaningful impact requires support from the top. FUSD’s board of education and district leadership committed resources and consistently engaged with internal stakeholders to collectively drive the district-wide effort to decrease chronic absenteeism. FUSD relied on a team approach to create buy-in and clarity around its goals ahead of enlisting support from community members who could help foster a shared understanding about how to tackle chronic absenteeism in the district.

An Inclusive Cross-Team Strategy

After identifying that a number of chronically absent students in grades K-3 were African American, FUSD convened a Cross-Cultural Leadership Team to analyze the data and propose next steps. The district was intentional about recruiting African American members and building a team in which each member could bring their diverse perspectives, experiences, and relationships to the table. 

FUSD selected four elementary school sites to pilot their cross-collaborative team approach to identifying actions that could improve chronic absenteeism rates across the district. Based on their chronic absenteeism rate data, they began this work with their African-American students in Kindergarten through third grade students. As conversations about parent engagement deepened, the team decided to partner with CBOs with established relationships and experience working with families in the district. Initial conversations centered around relationship building and identifying needs. The district focused on addressing families' varying needs (e.g., medical supplies for COVID-19, food, shoes, etc.) with community support before having conversations about attendance and academics. 

A Data-Driven Approach

FUSD started approaching the chronic absenteeism issue in the district by gathering and analyzing data to identify school sites and students with the highest needs. To improve cohesion and responsiveness, the Cross-Cultural Leadership Team developed an internal workflow to share and review the data with the affected school sites. The team also met regularly with the affected school sites to build their capacity around accessing the data to identify the appropriate supports that address the specific needs of chronically absent students and families, and ultimately sustain the work to decrease chronic absenteeism at their sites. 

Partnering with CBOs

By partnering with CBOs, FUSD gained access to existing networks within the community that could help identify available resources for students and families. FUSD tapped into the community to gather diapers, medical supplies, fans, heaters, mattresses, shoes, and other essential items to address the needs of families that had been previously unknown — and prevented students from attending school. Conversations about attendance and academics came later, and instead focused on the value of what was happening in the classroom.

Lessons Learned

One of the lessons learned by FUSD during their effort was to take a more proactive stance toward chronic absenteeism, such as reaching out to families of at-promise students before they become chronically absent. Another key takeaway was the importance of revisiting assumptions about the causes of chronic absenteeism. Families remained committed to school attendance but at times required additional supports to be able to send their children to school. The district's holistic approach to tackling chronic absenteeism through continuous improvement was key to improving outcomes for students.