Most Carson City schools reduce student absence rates

Seven of 10 Carson City schools saw a decrease in chronic absenteeism rates during the 2023-24 school year, district administrators announced Friday.

Active efforts to improve student engagement and document attendance after it was announced Carson City’s average rate in September 2023 was 25% seem to have helped some schools make “significant improvements” for most campuses, although some of the data initially released might be somewhat misleading, according to Ricky Medina, director of accountability and assessment.

“There were gains that didn’t show up this year that will show up next year,” he said.

Bordewich Bray, Empire, Fremont, Fritsch and Mark Twain elementary schools’ percentages went down, as well as Carson Middle.

Carson Montessori Elementary School, the district’s charter school, also saw a decrease. Pioneer Academy Middle School’s absenteeism also went down, although its high school rate went up.

District spokesman Dan Davis said there are multiple reasons students don’t attend school including mental health or they might work to support their families. For assessment purposes, the district has dedicated staff to determine individual needs and build an academic plan focusing on recommitment to a student’s schoolwork.

The strategy typically is most successful by establishing a relationship and creating a sense of belonging for the child or teen, Medina said.

Jason Zona, director of student engagement and support, said the district has hired engagement and attendance specialist Joseph Madera whose attention is on chronic absenteeism.

“The goal is to go to every site once a week to help with supporting students doing parent conferences, doing home visits, and he would be the second person to help social workers at every site once a week,” he said.

Providing incentives through Mayor Lori Bagwell’s Attendance Hall of Fame, which she began at Carson High School in February this year with bike giveaways, cash awards, AirPods, books or other gifts through the help of community partnerships and businesses was equally important. Gifts and assemblies of recognition served as motivators for elementary or middle school students in 2023-24 as a means of celebrating growth, Zona said.

“I saw last year there were a lot of incentives, and at every level every week or two or end of the year, having those rewards are very important, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle,” he said. “Incentives aren’t the silver bullet, but it keeps it in mind.”

The purpose to keep kids in the seat was a community effort that needed to address all the barriers and gave the school sites much-needed support, the district officials told the Appeal.

“I know we’ve had great conversations at school sites with parents and communication with parents and helping them to understand,” Davis said.

“I think our staff has always been motivated to keep kids in school,” Medina said. “I think we have lot of good community partners, the initiative of the mayor and juvenile probation, the relationship with the sheriff’s office, the chamber of commerce. I feel like Carson City is really on board. … We’ve tracked the data, we’ve got a lot of community support. That also reflects in those numbers, and hopefully we’ll continue to have that support going forward.”