School Committee member Diane Mayhew and Administrator of Student Interventions Chris Rogers focus on student attendance. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – The Westfield Public School district has put together a new task force made up of administrators, counselors and School Committee members to revamp the policies and procedures on attendance.
School Committee member Diane Mayhew, who is a member of the task force, said Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) are being ramped up to focus on encouraging students to come to school.
Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski said that after they started to look at it, the state also started linking attendance to accountability.
“Our kids are getting more education if they come to school,” he said.
Distrct Administrator of Student Interventions and Safety Christopher Rogers said on any given day, 95% or more of the students in the district are in attendance.
“Our average daily attendance is very good,” Rogers said, adding, “Where we have issues and are focusing on is the number of chronically absent students, who miss 10% or more, or 18 days.”
“The primary focus is to grab these kids when a red flag goes up to intervene with specific procedures, and we want to applaud the ones that come in every day,” Mayhew said. “There are reasons some are not attending, and we need to delve deeper into why.”
Rogers said the district has built up a system of support for students around attendance, the same way they are helping students who are struggling academically, emotionally or socially. He said there are a variety of different reasons, and they have built a structure to help students who are exhibiting signs of being chronically absent that is consistent across all the schools.
“You can’t replace lessons, minutes, hours lost when a child is absent. Attendance gaps can lead to achievement gaps,” Rogers said.
“Which can also lead to dropping out,” added Mayhew.
“We want our students to stay in school, and not fall so far behind,” Czaporowski said. He said the task force intentionally chose people from across the district in order to see consistency in the response.
Rogers said goals for this school year include implementing the new policy and getting all schools to adhere to its policies and practices; creating enthusiasm and support among staff, parents and the community for attendance; developing a streamlined focus on attendance data, and looking to reduce absenteeism across the district.
Czaporowski said when a student reaches a certain day, every school will do the same thing. He said when he was principal of Westfield Technical Academy, he had students come to him who had to go to work to help their families. “Even in those situations, we can help to some extent,” he said, citing cooperative education opportunities and work study. “We will do everything we can to help students still learn.
Rogers said the task force is working in the schools to discover the reasons and barriers on why students can’t come. He said through surveys and questionnaires, they have a lot of feelers out.
“If parents and guardians are having concerns about a children’s attendance, they need to reach out, to see if there’s anything we can to do help,” Czaporowski said.
He said whether going to work or college upon graduation, attendance is just as important a life skill.
Rogers said early intervention is the best strategy.
“We are in full implementation of the new model. So far this year, our average daily rate is good, and schools are really focusing on the chronically absent students,” Rogers said. He said there are daily conversations with teachers and administrators around attendance. “It’s now become a huge focus for us,” he said.
Rogers said kids will come to school if they feel safe and supported, and have at least one trusted adult they can talk to. “Ultimately, it’s about creating a culture where kids want to come to school every day.”
Mayhew said administrators and teachers are greeting children in the morning. “If just one person notices, it makes a huge difference,” she said, adding that the School Committee has been very receptive to the new policy. “When I was asked to be part of the task force, I wanted to be part of the solution,” she said.
“For me it’s about the kids,” Czaporowski said, adding that he wants them all to have the most success in school. The new policy is on the district website at www.schoolsofwestfield.org, and parents or guardians with concerns are encouraged to call the district at 413-572-6403.
“The key is, we want to work in partnership with our parents to get kids into school,” Czaporowski said.
