The nation is facing a crisis, with nearly 1 in 3 students chronically absent from school.
Students are considered chronically absent when they miss 10% or more of school, for any reason. Missing school at that rate negatively impacts education outcomes, including academic achievement and high school graduation rates, as well as long-term health outcomes.
While there are many reasons why students are chronically absent, health-related issues are key drivers. Kaiser Permanente is uniquely positioned to support efforts to address this growing challenge through initiatives like Thriving Schools.
Did you know that asthma accounts for one-third of all days of missed instruction? Children with persistent asthma are more than 3 times as likely than their peers to have 10 or more absences. Roughly 40% of school-aged children missed 3 or more days of school in the past year due to sudden onset illnesses.
The impact of student attendance on learning environments and outcomes necessitates a proactive response. Kaiser Permanente is committed to advancing solutions that address the health-related drivers of chronic absence.
In March 2024, Chula Vista Elementary School District and San Diego Unified School District partnered with Kaiser Permanente to engage in a two-day workshop to identify strategies to better connect and align efforts around health and chronic absence.
Both school districts have independently been working to address absence rates in their respective schools (between the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years, Chula Vista Elementary School District’s student chronic absence rates dropped 7.2%, and San Diego Unified School District’s rate dropped 4.6%), but were ready to dive deeper into their data and experiences to further develop their existing strategies. Thriving Schools has previously worked closely with both on health and wellness efforts within the schools and throughout the community and welcomed the opportunity to help the teams further develop how to integrate health and attendance.
During the two-day session, the school districts were able learn from one another by hearing commonality in the challenges and finding inspiration in new ideas and innovation. In addition, it was an opportunity for Thriving Schools to listen and learn how Kaiser Permanente could best support the districts’ needs.
“The time our team spent listening, sharing, and collaborating with Kaiser Permanente and partners really made an impact on all of us. Being aware of how health and attendance are inextricably linked and having tools and data to support that claim will be a game changer for school districts,” said Heather Cruz, director of Attendance, Wellness and Student Supports for Chula Vista Elementary School District.
Since the meeting, the Thriving Schools team has been checking in with the school districts on a quarterly basis to hear about their progress and offer support as needed. Over the last year, both school districts have worked to continue decreasing their rates of student absence.
“The Learning Lab was unquestionably a success. That you were able to bring leaders from two school districts together in such a thoughtful way … and generate such an important discussion, is a testament to your keen understanding of both the subject matter, and the dynamics we face in K-12 education. From my lens, this is part of the unique value the KP Thriving Schools team provides.”
– San Diego Strategy Workshop Participant
The team at Chula Vista Elementary School District created the first-ever district level attendance and wellness team. They have started utilizing an attendance dashboard for all school sites and incorporated training for frontline staff who often communicate with families and caregivers regarding absences. District-wide they have integrated goals to address health-related drivers of chronic absence into their local accountability plan.
The San Diego Unified School District holds meetings with school nurses and health technicians to train them on strategies for targeted outreach for students on the brink of chronic absence. They have streamlined written guidelines addressing absenteeism and are leveraging funding available through the California’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative to implement more universal (Tier 1) and targeted (Tier 3) interventions.
Kaiser Permanente is committed to working with school districts across the country to address the health-related causes of chronic absence. We recognize the investment and time required to make meaningful progress. These workshops are great ways to connect, learn, and identify unique interventions that can help support strong attendance and create positive, healthy learning environments for the entire school community.
For more information on Thriving Schools Student Chronic Absence work, or to learn how your school district can have the same opportunity Chula Vista Elementary and San Diego Unified School Districts received engaging with Kaiser Permanente experts, contact Curtis Robbins.
