OKCPS superintendent, District Attorney Vicki Behenna team up to fight absenteeism

A previous column published on March 23 highlighted the strategic work happening in Oklahoma City Public Schools to combat chronic absenteeism. The focused plan, which included attendance advocates, incentives (some provided by the OKCPS Foundation) and regular monitoring and other strategies, allowed for great improvement the first half of this past school year.

Elementary schools ended the fall semester with 6% fewer students chronically absent. Middle and high schools had 2% fewer chronically absent students. Across Oklahoma City Public Schools, that is an increase of nearly 1,200 students attending school regularly who weren’t in school last year. Some schools made even more dramatic progress ― seven schools decreased their chronic absenteeism by more than 10% year over year.

Despite the promising results, with nine out of 25 OKCPS students chronically absent during the 2023-24 school year, this is not a problem that is easily or quickly solved, and there is so much more to do. Rest assured, this is NOT just an Oklahoma City Public Schools problem. This is a national problem and one that every school district in our country struggles with, made much more prevalent post-COVID.

Partnering with the DA

Fast-forward to a recent meeting between new OKCPS Superintendent Jamie Polk and Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna. Out of that meeting an idea was formed to develop a community task force to become educated on the effects of chronic absenteeism and to take action on addressing it. Superintendent Polk and the team at OKCPS have a goal to lift student achievement, which is a direct result of students being in school every day. Behenna also has a goal, which is keep youth out of the criminal justice system. The pipeline to prison is real. Students who stay in school and are successful in school are much less likely to end up in the system.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more school days. For Oklahoma City Public School students, that is missing 16 days ― excused or unexcused. Missing this much school, for any reason, has devastating results for students at all grade levels. For early grades, students who are chronically absent are less likely to read on grade level; middle school students who are not proficient readers are four times more likely to drop out of high school; a student who is chronically absent any year between eighth and 12th grades is seven times more likely to drop out; and a student who drops out lives nine years less than a college graduate.

These data points and many others were shared at the first Chronic Absenteeism Community Task Force meeting held recently. Attending were community members from business, nonprofit, government and education. Dialogue happened, questions were asked and ideas were exchanged. Increased visibility, incentives, focused education for families and employers, and a greater understanding of root causes were the takeaway ideas that will be further addressed as the group meets again.

Everyone in the room committed to taking action before meeting again. Everyone in the room also agreed that chronic absenteeism is a community issue that will take everyone in the community to solve. Our schools can’t do it alone.

Mary Mélon-Tully is president and CEO of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation.