May 14, 2024
By Anastasia Loutroutzis and Kiara Rasmussen
Webmaster and Staff Writer
If you are tempted to stay home from school more than before the pandemic, you are not alone.
According to data from the American Enterprise Institute, nationally, 26% of public school students were chronically absent last school year, compared to a 14% average in the four years prior to the pandemic. Students are considered to be chronically absent if they are absent more than 10% of the school year.
Education experts say the increase in student absenteeism is a major factor limiting the United States’ recovery from pandemic learning losses.
Dr. DiMaggio, who has a doctorate in education with a concentration in curriculum, leading, learning and leadership from Northeastern University in Boston, said increased absenteeism is the result of habits students developed during the pandemic.
“Students have just been involved in a bad pattern,” DiMaggio said. “During the pandemic, attendance was not an issue, and deadlines for assignments were very lax.”
According to an article from The New York Times, students and their families assume they can keep up with schoolwork online. For instance, at LHS, students now put assignments on Google Classroom.
“I am not sure if the technology, specifically, has influenced student absences, but I definitely think the pandemic encouraged students not to take attendance as seriously [as before]” DiMaggio said.
To encourage good attendance, during the 2018-2019 school year, LHS implemented the 90% rule, which states that students who have been absent for more than 18 days or 10% of all school days are considered chronically absent and cannot participate in class trips, extracurricular activities, interscholastic athletics and any other school-based activity that would cause a student to miss even more class time.
“I think this rule is mostly just right, but some trips are part of other classes, like band performance trips,” DiMaggio said. “In that case, it makes it hard for an ensemble group to perform without some students.”
Senior Isabella Guzman, who is enrolled in Mrs. Falco’s dual enrollment Introduction to Education class, said the 90% rule has not impacted her because she strives to be present at school.
“I don’t like falling behind and having to make it up on top of everything that’s going on already,” Guzman said. “So, I remind myself, ‘Okay, I’ll go to school and do [my work] while I’m there rather than having to do it later.’”
Guzman said teachers can positively influence their students’ attendance by using strategies to keep their attention.
“[If I were a teacher,] I would try to [make] my classes as interesting as possible and try to have fun activities … involved in their learning and do hands-on learning activities and stuff like that, so it’s things that they wouldn’t really want to miss,” Guzman said.
Similar to Guzman, sophomore Noah Melendez said even though he does not always want to come to school, he keeps himself motivated to attend because he does not want his grades to drop.
According to NorthJersey.com, in 2023, more than 70% of schools in New Jersey had 10% or more chronic absenteeism, compared to just 32% of schools in 2018-2019. Homeless students and those in foster care are most affected, followed by low-income students and those with disabilities.
Melendez said low-income students may not prioritize attendance because they are focused on working to contribute to their family’s income.
“A lot of [low-income students] are balancing school, work and other things,” Melendez said. “So they’re going to miss some school days. They’re going to cut classes, and they’re going to [be] absent.”
“I don’t like falling behind and having to make it up on top of everything that’s going on already.”
Melendez said anxiety and depression caused by social restrictions during the pandemic have also contributed to chronic absenteeism.
“I think a big reason for why students have been absent in the last school years is because of the big mental health issues after the pandemic,” Melendez said. “Some kids don’t want to go to school, [and] they don’t want to do sports. They just want to stay home.”
Assistant Principal Mr. Venezia said attendance at LHS this year has ranged from 4.3% absent to 11.4% absent. He said the 11.4% absence was an outlier that occurred on Jan. 2, the day students returned to school from the holiday break. On the second-highest day of absences, 8.9% of students were absent.
Venezia said absenteeism is problematic because when students miss class, teachers must revisit past material, which disrupts their lesson plans.
“Teachers plan their lessons in sequences [that] require students to understand the material from a prior lesson to be able to follow the current lesson,” Venezia said. “Students who miss the prior lesson because they were absent slow down the educational process.”
Venezia said the 90% rule and a 16-day limit on absences before losing credit for a course has led to improved attendance rates but has not eliminated the problem of absenteeism. He said remote instruction during the pandemic has prompted students to be chronically absent.
“[Online learning] has given many [students] a false sense of security that they do not need to come to school,” Venezia said. “In-person interactions with their teacher will enhance their ability to learn.”
Venezia said frequent absences result in bad habits that will have long-term effects on students.
“In order to be successful at anything, you need to be on time and present,” Venezia said. “Whether it’s high school, college, a sports team [or] a social organization, you need in-person interaction with other people in that group… to be successful.”
