Akron Public Schools has seen a rise of almost 40% in chronic absenteeism during the current school year. The district blames a combination of factors including illness, lack of transportation and students having trouble adjusting to in-person classes as the pandemic winds down.
Dan Rambler is the district’s director of student support services. He says they’ve seen the highest absentee rates among older students.
“We have far more high school kids that are working than they have in the past and I appreciate from talking to kids and families, part of that is just due to the economic stress that is involved with families and their necessity to generate different income that they can use.”
Rambler says intervention teams work with all children who have missed more than 10 percent of the school year. He says the district has increased daily home visits to check in with these students.
