In the Mississippi Department of Education's latest "Chronic Absenteeism Report," the East Tallahatchie School District is listed as having the second-highest rate of chronic student absenteeism among all public school districts in the state.
Charleston High School had the seventh-highest rate of chronic absence among individual schools in Mississippi, with nearly half of the student body qualifying as chronically absent.
The 52-page report, released Friday, reveals the chronic absenteeism rate for all public school districts and individual schools in Mississippi during the 2018-19 school year.
The report defines chronic absenteeism as "missing 10% (18 days) of the school year for any reason." Any student who misses 50% or more of a school day is considered absent for that day.
Statewide,13.05% of Mississippi students were absent 10% or more of the 2018-19 school year, down from 16.86% the previous year.
The East Tallahatchie School District's chronic absenteeism rate was 25.53%. Among 1,136 students enrolled in the district, 290 were chronically absent.
In the West Tallahatchie School District, 124 of 740 enrolled students were chronically absent, for a chronic absenteeism rate of 16.76%.
The number and percentage of chronically absent students at individual local schools (listed in descending order from highest to lowest) were:
» Charleston High School: 120 (43.64%) of 275 enrollees
» Charleston Middle School: 81 (21.66%) of 374 enrollees
» West Tallahatchie High School: 61 (20.96%) of 291 enrollees
» Charleston Elementary School: 89 (18.24%) of 488 enrollees
» R.H. Bearden Elementary School: 63 (14.03%) of 449 enrollees
According to MDE, chronic absence differs from Average Daily Attendance (ADA), which is the average number of enrolled students who attend school each day. A school's ADA often masks issues surrounding the number of students who are chronically absent, MDE noted.
During the 2018-19 school year, 63,226 Mississippi students were chronically absent, which is a decrease of 19,746 students from the previous year.
State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carey Wright said school attendance impacts student performance.
"Students who attend school regularly perform better academically," Wright noted. "Schools, parents and communities need to work together to make sure all children are attending school regularly. Chronic absenteeism has a negative impact on student achievement because students who are not in school are not learning."
Starting as early as preschool and kindergarten, chronic absence can leave third-graders unable to read proficiently, sixth-graders struggling with coursework and high school students off track for graduation, MDE noted.
View the full report at https://www.mdek12.org/sites/default/files/Offices/MDE/OEA/OPR/2019/chro....
