Chronic absenteeism rates in Michigan schools have significantly declined, yet researchers warn the state's rate overall remains alarmingly high.
"Chronic absenteeism" is when a student misses at least 10% of the school year.
Michigan's rate dropped from nearly 39% to slightly more than 30% in the 2022-23 school year, but it's still higher than the 20% recorded in 2018. Climate change and extreme weather are now seen as factors that fuel absenteeism.
Veteran first-grade teacher Janice Rackozy from Hamtramck shares how her students face challenges during bad weather.
"Lot of the kids, if it's too cold, they won't come to school. If it's too hot, they call weather days. So, it interrupts the learning," she said. "One good thing out of it, we began to go online and the kids got used to going online because of COVID."
However, learning gaps because of the pandemic haven't closed.
Rackozy said her district has been proactive in making sure school buildings are updated and well insulated so students feel comfortable and safe when at school.
Many educators credit Michigan's Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, at least in part, for the decline in school absenteeism. The plan details key goals and strategies for better educational outcomes throughout the state, including support for struggling schools and promoting safe and healthy school environments.
Frank Donner, an elementary teacher in Detroit, said he tells parents at the beginning of the school year that if they do nothing else, just make sure their child comes to class.
"If they're here, we're going to work with them, and we can do a lot, and they will do a lot," he said. "But for every day that the student's missing, they're missing instruction, and it's not just that individual student that's missing out. It's also disrupting then the learning and routines and procedures for the rest of the class."
Donner said chronic school absenteeism affects students and staff equally, and that it's as big an issue in rural communities as it is in big cities or suburbs.
