In Jefferson County Schools, we understand that student success takes all of us: community, families, and school personnel. One of the most important areas we all work together on is attendance. For the last 2 years, Jefferson County Schools has been "on watch" for chronic absenteeism as part of our WVDE Balanced Scorecard. To be removed from "on watch" status, we need less than 20% of our students to be chronically absent; we are currently at 20.7%.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of the available school days. While we aim for students to miss no more than five school days per year, we understand that sometimes life events and illnesses happen. One of the nice things about chronic absenteeism is that you can move off of this list. For instance, if you have missed 14 days, once we hit the 150th day of school, you would no longer be considered chronically absent.
JCS is incredibly close to meeting our goal for the year, and this is a result of the incredible partnerships between our schools, community, and our families. If your students are healthy, please send them to school to help us reach this milestone! Students achieve more when they are in school learning.
If you are experiencing attendance barriers, don't hesitate to contact your principal or the Jefferson County Schools Attendance Department. We are here to help.
See you Monday!
Dr. Bishop
Superintendent