DeKalb district leaders want to address truancy in two-year school improvement plan

DeKALB – DeKalb school district leaders said this week they plan to address student truancy in a school improvement plan meant to outline district goals through 2025.

During Tuesday’s DeKalb District 428 school board meeting, the school board deliberated over a presentation which provided truancy data on students in sixth through 12th grades who have been chronically absent. The presentation was made by Secondary Curriculum Coordinator Sarah Montgomery and Elementary Curriculum Coordinator Billy Hueramo. It was part of a strategic planning conversation during the board meeting to identify a districtwide school improvement plan for 2023 through 2025.

School Board Member Amanda Harness asked staff to better define “chronically absent.”

“Chronically absent is a student who has missed 5% of the school year, and that is for any reason,” Montgomery said. “Chronically truant is missing 10%.

According to the presentation, 40% of sixth grade students have been chronically absent during the most recent school year, 45% of seventh and eighth graders, 48% of ninth graders, 43% of tenth graders, 62% of eleventh graders, and 58% of twelfth graders.

To improve absenteeism, Montgomery said that the school district will look into how the teaching and learning department can support social-emotional learning at all levels of students.

District staff identified other ways to address truancy, including holding family events and Northern Illinois University’s Parent University. According to the program’s website, Parent University is “a holistic approach to address parents’ personal development, relationship with their children and, finally, relationship with their children’s schools.”

Other priority ideas included additional parent engagement and MTSS tiered identification and supports.

The next DeKalb School Board of Education meeting will be held 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 6.