Mitchell School District receives state funding to fight absenteeism

Nov. 9—PIERRE — Mitchell is one of four South Dakota school districts that has been awarded grant money for the Addressing Chronic Absenteeism program from the South Dakota Department of Education.

Mitchell, Spearfish, Leola, and Watertown school districts each received up to $500,000 to implement programs to support districts, students, and families with regular school attendance. Money from the grants will fund transportation; mentoring and tutoring programs; student, family, and community engagement activities. These grants were awarded on a competitive basis to high-needs school districts.

In the annual South Dakota Department of Education district report card released last month for 2022-23, attendance rate in the Mitchell School District was 88%, compared to 86% for a statewide average. Chronic absenteeism was calculated at 18% districtwide, while the state average is 21%.

At Mitchell High School specifically, attendance rate for 2022-23 is 82% and chronic absenteeism is calculated at 24%, both higher than the overall state average. In 2021-22, the attendance rate at MHS was 93%, while chronic absenteeism was at 23%. The chronic absenteeism figure calculates the percentage of students that have attended more than 10 days and have missed more than 10% enrolled days in a school year.

In October, Mitchell Superintendent Joe Childs

told the Mitchell Republic

that the district will continue to commit to improving absenteeism statistics.

"I think this is an opportunity for our entire community to get behind the importance of improving regular school attendance. We know that regular attendance not only allows students to develop good study habits, but it also helps establish a sense of accountability for their learning," Childs said. "Students that attend school keep up with their assignments and have the opportunity to participate in class activities and discussions."

"The district will focus on plans for addressing the 18% of students that fit into the category of chronically absent," Childs added. "Our plans include early intervention protocols to identify and support students with attendance issues, implementing attendance tracking systems and collaborating with parents and guardians to identify and address any barriers to regular school attendance."

"Districts that have been awarded grants will implement attendance strategies," said South Dakota Secretary of Education Joseph Graves in a news release. "Then we'll look at the results and share the successful program models with the rest of the state. Hopefully, we'll build a consensus that works throughout the state that can return us to our pre-pandemic rates, which have been traditionally strong in South Dakota."

The statewide attendance rate in school year 2022-23 was 86.41% versus 85.65% the previous year. The grant funds are made available from the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law in 2022.

A first round of grants was awarded to school districts in July. The Sioux Falls, Pierre, Wilmot, Waubay, and Sisseton school districts received grants in that round.