BUFFALO, N.Y. — New numbers from Buffalo Public Schools show the district taking a step back on student attendance.
And just last month, more than a third of students in the district missed a significant amount of time in class.
2 On Your Side is taking a look at the situation and what the district is doing to try to fix it?
In Buffalo Schools, even the youngest learners are missing out on valuable class time.
"Pre-K and kindergarten, our attendance takes a dive. Sometimes there's the thought that they're younger kids, and there's not a whole lot instructionally that's happening, and that is absolutely not the truth," said Dr. Tonja Williams, associate superintendent of student support services.
Here's some data right from Buffalo Schools last month 20 percent of students were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 15 days of school.
Fifteen percent of students were severely absent meaning they missed at least 20 days of school.
These percentages are slightly higher than a year ago. Why?
"At the start of the school year there were several students that had not been immunized or in the past had received a religious exemption," Williams said.
Take out the immunizations, would there still be an attendance issue in Buffalo schools?
"There are many things that mitigate student attendance," Williams said.
Issues from bullying to language barriers with families.
Beginning Saturday, the district will start hosting a series of community meetings, not only to stress the importance of attendance but to update the district's attendance policy.
"We're looking for feedback from the community, from our parents, from our stakeholders, from our community partners. What's really important to them, to be a part of the policy," Williams said.
One way the district has been trying to get more kids to go to school is by offering them prizes, such as gift cards and movie tickets.
Is there any data to support that those programs are working or is it really on a case by case basis?
"It's on a case-by-case basis," Williams said.
The district hopes talking to parents in these community meetings works.
"What we need for our parents to know that we need our children in school every single day," Williams said.
These community meetings on student attendance begin Saturday morning at Lovejoy Discovery School.
There will be three more after that.
For information on dates, times and locations, cclick on this link to be directed to the Buffalo Schools website.