RSF School board aims to tackle chronic absenteeism at R. Roger Rowe

How Stafford County teachers fight chronic absenteeism, one phone call at a time

One might call it a teacher telethon. Twice this semester, North Stafford High School teachers used their free time or scheduled substitutes to call parents about their child’s excessive absences. Since the pandemic, chronic absenteeism has remained an ongoing problem at many schools nationwide. During the 2023-2024 academic year, North Stafford’s chronic absenteeism rate dropped from 30% to 19% with the help of automated calls and emails. Howev…

RSF School board aims to tackle chronic absenteeism at R. Roger Rowe

Students in the Rancho Santa Fe School District have been racking up unexcused absences over the last few school years—time out of the classroom for family vacations, trips to Disneyland or taking an extra day to turn a three-day weekend into a four-day weekend. Each day out of school adds up. Per the California Department of Education’s school dashboard, which ranks every public school in the state, Rancho Santa Fe students are crushing it in E…