Why are more and more students absent in South Carolina?
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - It’s an issue some education researchers call the greatest challenge facing American public schools post-pandemic: chronic absenteeism.
That’s when students miss at least 10% of the school year – and the latest data shows one in four students in South Carolina falls into this category.
A new report looked at why so many students are out of the classroom these days.
A group known as the Education Oversight Committee oversees the ability system for South Carolina public schools.
That includes now taking a closer look at chronic absenteeism rates that have shot up the past few years.
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“It’s gonna have to be fixed because it’s not getting any better,” said state Rep. Bill Hager, R-Hampton.
That starts with trying to get to the bottom of why so many students are missing school.
This fall, a focus group met with just over two dozen high school students from across South Carolina to ask them that.
It found safety and mental health are two of the biggest contributors.
“A lot of students mentioned feeling overwhelmed,” said Tenell Felder with the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee. “One term that kept coming up over and over again was, ‘I don’t feel like getting out of bed.’”
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And they say attitudes of just not caring about school – are another key driver of absenteeism.
“COVID really did change a lot. … Almost like it gave permission, and once they realized that they could do work at home or they could manipulate the system at home, it’s really hard to go back to that, to justify, why do I have to sit in a classroom seven-and-a-half hours a day,” said Barbara Hairfield, another member of the committee
The group is next looking into a public awareness campaign to reinforce why school attendance matters.
As could be expected, students who miss school more also tend to have lower grades.
But committee say they’re also seeing it instilling harmful mentalities that last beyond the school years.
“Employers are saying, students are saying, ‘I’m time-challenged now, so if work starts at 8:30, I’m sorry, I can’t be there before 9:30.’ So this is what employers are telling us, that this is becoming a problem,” said Melanie Barton, senior education adviser to Gov. Henry McMaster
The report also says students don’t feel schools are enforcing attendance requirements strictly enough — and could do a better job of recognizing and celebrating good attendance.
The group also plans to get more input for this study from parents – to especially focus in on the reasons younger students are missing more school than they were before.
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