Absences rising: School climbing out COVID-19 rut

Manteca High student Moises Ramos Hurtado sits alone at a table for seven students on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.

By GUADALUPE ENRIQUEZ 
The Tower 

Studies show that after COVID-19, students are having a harder time attending class.

Manteca High attendance clerk Susan Jacobs has worked for the Manteca Unified School District for 20 years, and she says the current attendance rates are some of the lowest she’s ever seen.

Jacobs’ reports that freshmen (92.31 percent), sophomore (92.31) and junior (91.82) classes at Manteca High struggled the most with attendance, based on Term 1 data (Aug. 4 to Dec. 16). The senior class had the highest attendance percentage (93.16).

Prior to COVID, attendance rates hovered around 96 percent for each subset of student, Manteca High Vice Principal Brett Lewis said.

There are valid reasons for an absence — illness, family issues and concerns, and a lack of transportation being the most commonplace.

“There are just too many reasons why students miss school,” Jacobs said. “Kids get sick and they stay home. There are family situations that keep them at home which are out of their control. And there isn’t bussing anymore for the kids that live farther away. And I think that has something to do with students missing school so much; if the kids have to walk to school.

“I think if that they bring back bussing back, it would help a little bit.” 

Though missing school can be affected by transportation, Jacobs believes another culprit is a general lack of motivation and support in the home. Parents may not push their student to attend school, or they give the student too much freedom.  

“I think it begins at home. I think there’s just not enough involvement by some parents with their children’s education,” she said. “I think that this is something that needs to be taught at home and that’s where it needs to begin; that school is important and students need to be here. We can encourage them to be here all we can, but if they don’t leave the house, there’s not much we can do.

“I don’t want to blame it all on the parents. These kids are older in high school and they can get themselves up. There’s just a lack of motivation with some students to be here. Education isn’t that important to some kids and I think they just need to be mentored here more, which we do have a lot of interventions here.”

After years of COVID-19 forcing students to attend school from home, Manteca High Vice Principal Brett Lewis acknowledged that students have developed an inclination to remain at home rather than attend school. Lewis explained that the sudden changes from attending in person, to being online, and then being in person again, is a “rut” that students haven’t yet climbed out of.

“There’s a lot of things that can factor in why students miss school. I think it can be anxiety, and you know mental health is a big piece right now. A lot of students are struggling with it coming out of two to three years (of COVID),” he said. “I think it’s our job to help these students understand that there’s support for them here. But if they’re home, they’re not getting an education and we don’t have counseling support for them at home.” 

When asked about any programs in place to improve attendance, Jacobs said there is a truancy process that helps the school understand the why behind the absences. Jacobs would like to see the district add a truancy officer to provide home visits.

“I think our district needs a truancy officer to get a little more involved, (so) there’s somebody that can go to their homes to figure out what’s going on,” she said. “And I just think that would help; it would help the parents be a little more accountable because they’re just kids after all.” 

Jacobs also warned against missing just one day a week. A student who misses school once a week regularly over the course of their primary and secondary education runs the risk of shaving years off their education.

“If a child misses one day a week, that equals 40 days a year, which is eight weeks per year. So over 13 years of schooling, the student has missed 2 ½ years of education,” Jacobs said, illustrating the snowball effect.

“This is just a simple example of how much a student really is missing. You might think just a day here and there doesn’t mean much, but it really adds up to the instruction you’re missing, which is important. They have to be here to learn the material, and if they’re not here then, they’re not going to learn it.”