Bagwell pushing students to attend school

Mayor Lori Bagwell recently was getting her nails done in a salon when she took notice of a young girl along with her mother. She started a friendly conversation about why the girl, a student from Carson City’s Mark Twain Elementary School, was there.

“I asked her, ‘How old are you?’ and she said she was 6,” Bagwell said. “I thought, ‘You really should be in school.’ I asked her, ‘Can I come and read to your class, and I’ll give you the book when you’re done?’ And she started smiling, and she said, ‘Mom, it’s a contest, and I can win that’ (for being in school). And that just solidified for me the opportunity to do that.’

“I thought, I’m just going to worry about one child at a time,” Bagwell said.

The Carson City School District, which reported a 25% chronic absenteeism rate in September, has been encouraging students to attend school on a consistent basis after they worked from home or in hybrid mode.

Chronic absenteeism has been defined as missing at least 10 percent of days in a school year for any reason, including excused and unexcused absences. School administrators and teachers have targeted the issue, working to lower its averages. Administrators say absenteeism affects academic and social services for a child and leads to long-term delinquency, financial and health issues without proper intervention.

While most Carson City schools don’t average as high as its overall rate of 25% on an individual level, Bagwell wanted to do her part to let students and the community know it’s important for kids to go to school every day. CCSD awaits updated results on its absenteeism data at the end of the month, according to the district.

Bagwell’s “Mayor’s Attendance Hall of Fame” campaign, an effort to recognize Carson City students for perfect, improved or consistent attendance, launched at Carson High School during its Winterfest assembly Jan. 26. She awarded three students with Airpods and cash gift cards. She encouraged the student body watching that their attendance has a significant impact on their academic performance and life skills.

In speaking with the Appeal, Bagwell said she has been committed to helping the city’s children understand the importance of attending school, having visited Pioneer Academy in October with Assemblyman PK O’Neill.

“I think the entire community from all aspects recognizes that we need our children to go to school to help chart their successes,” Bagwell said. “I really do, because I really do stress to them how important their success is to me and that I truly care about them and their community and that school is a way to achieve success and that I’m asking them to go to school.”

Bagwell has partnered with local marketing and communications firm In Plain Marketing to assist with social media promotions and to plan a recognition day for students with prizes to be given out from local businesses. Bagwell said prizes are being donated from local businesses including Glen Eagles Restaurant, Carson City Toyota, Greater Nevada Credit Union, Southwest Gas and others. She said there will be six bicycles per elementary school, gift cards for the middle schools and high schools and ice cream gift certificates, Visa cards, Jump Around Carson bus passes, toothbrushes, movie passes, books and other items to be provided.

Bagwell acknowledged some youth will see the initiative as a contest over the opportunity to establish lifelong positive habits but still hopes to generate a desire for them to stay in school and the community support invested in them.

“I think they’re excited to see local officials and community businesses believing and supporting them,” she said. “That’s important.”