Raymondville ISD addresses nationwide low attendance issue

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Raymondville Independent School District has joined a nationwide effort to raise awareness of chronic absences in school.

According to data from the nonprofit educational retention group Attendance Works, the aftermath of COVID-19 has resulted in the number of chronic absences nationwide going from 8 million to 16 million students.

Chronic absenteeism is described as missing ten percent of the entire school year, which is the equivalent of about 18 days. It affects a student's chances of graduating and the rest of the class's progress.

Benjamin Clinton, Deputy Superintendent of Raymondville ISD, said the school district had 40% of its students chronically absent across all campuses in 2022. Since then, the district has raised awareness of the issue and improved its attendance.

The district is still below its target goal for daily attendance and Clinton said it is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result.

"We think we're down about three percent from where we want to be in daily attendance. That's about three-quarters of a million dollars," Clinton said. "Think about all the great things we could be doing with kids if we had those extra funds coming from the state."

ValleyCentral spoke with one of Raymondville High School's former chronically absent students.

Jonathan Cerda graduated this past school year. Before his senior year, he was a chronically absent student and was in danger of dropping out.

"My coaches, they were really there for me. I feel like they really helped me and motivated me," Cerda said. "My coaches would go by, pick me up and take me to school."

As a result of Cerda's motivation by sports and support from the school district, he was able to become the first person in his family to graduate High School and is currently enrolled at Texas State Technical College.

During September, the school district is raising awareness of the nationwide issue and sending attendance support specialists to conduct home interviews. The specialists will identify and address barriers to getting children to school.