Oregon has a higher rate of students that frequently miss classes than most states, and Central Oregon’s schools are not immune to the trend.

In response, the High Desert Education Service District hired a former teacher whose sole purpose is be to combat chronic absenteeism. Kimberly Strong, the regional coordinator for reducing chronic absenteeism, has been a teacher for 10 years, most recently in Sisters.

She said after seeing how students missing classes correlated with poor academic performance, she was motivated to help schools regionwide. Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing at least 10 percent of her or his school days, Strong said.

Strong said Oregon performs worse than most states in keeping student attendance on track. In the 2016-17 school year, 19.7 percent of students were chronically absent, according to the Oregon Department of Education.

Only four states had a higher percentage of students who missed three weeks of school or more during the 2015-16 school year: Washington, Maryland, Alaska and the District of Columbia, according to U.S. Department of Education data compiled by Education Week.

At many Central Oregon high schools in the 2016-17 school year, more than one in four students was chronically absent, according to state Department of Education data. That list includes all three major high schools in Bend, both Redmond high schools, and Madras High School. Some smaller high schools, like Crook County and Sisters, had a rate below 20 percent.

Strong is one of eight regional coordinators recently hired around the state after the Legislature gave the Oregon Department of Education $7 million to fight chronic absenteeism.

Oregon is giving extra support to 27 school districts, one of which is Jefferson County School District, said Terra Hernandez, the chronic absenteeism lead for the education department.

Chronic absenteeism can be caused by many factors, which makes it difficult to fix, Strong said.

“It’s not just one thing, that’s the problem,” she said.

Other than illness, kids can miss a lot of school because of a lack of communication between students and teachers, Strong said. Minorities, students living in poverty and students with disabilities often have higher rates of chronic absenteeism, she said.

Statewide, the chronic absenteeism rate is lower for white students than that of every other race or ethnicity except Asian students. Rates are higher for economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities.

However, there are exceptions. La Pine High School had a lower chronic absenteeism rate than Summit High School, despite the latter school serving a more affluent population.

“Barriers are different for all families,” said Pine Ridge Elementary Principal Rochelle Williams, who fought chronic absenteeism in her previous job at Rosland Elementary in La Pine. “Sometimes, it’s transportation; sometimes, families had negative school experiences. We really try to problem-solve and take each case to think about how we can help them,” she said.

No matter the reason students miss class, their absence can quickly result in worse academic performance.

“You can never really get a hold. You can never really get your footing, and you always feel two steps behind,” Strong said. “Being behind is not a fun thing. That kind of tends to snowball, where now, you’ve missed one assignment, (and) you miss another day to get caught up.”

Because there are many causes of chronic absenteeism, Strong said she plans to talk with the various Central Oregon school districts under her watch so she can figure out a unique solution for each.

Keeping students in class in September is critical, Strong said.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily the content in September is more important … but I do think that, just like I’m in the relationship-building part of my career, students are in the relationship-building part of school,” she said. “That’s where they start to make connections. If they can make those connections in that first month, they’re more likely to keep going.”

Strong dismissed the myth that attendance only matters in high school. She said first grade and kindergarten were areas of concern, and that developing good attendance habits a young age was important.

“When I was in kindergarten, we were learning how to write our name,” she said. “Kindergarten now, they’re learning to read. Missing those days does have a bigger impact than most of us realize.”

She plans to inform parents about local resources like Family Access Network to provide school supplies, food or laundry services, and working with programs like Safe Routes to School, which can help with ride-sharing.

Bend-La Pine Schools recently developed a districtwide task force to be proactive in fighting absenteeism by communicating with families, Williams said. In La Pine, she said the Youth Service Team encourages positive attendance habits and connects with community partners like InSource to provide alarm clocks. At Rosland and La Pine elementaries, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies hold “attendance rallies” with doughnuts, games and the police dog for the classes with the highest attendance rates.

“Chronic absenteeism is a problem, but it’s a symptom of a bigger issue,” she said. “If students aren’t engaged in their education, if they’re not finding the value in it, that’s the real root that we want to solve. Once we can work that out, the attendance will follow.”

—Reporter: 541-617-7854; jhogan@bendbulletin.com