Van Buren County High School cut its chronic absenteeism rate by more than half last school year, in part due to work through the Communities In Schools Program.
Program Manager Allison Dodson said the improvement involved cooperation among students, families, the school system and Communities in Schools. Dodson said the organization works inside the school to identify issues impacting students.
“Students can’t learn if they have all of these other barriers going on,” Dodson said. “They can’t learn if they’re not here as well, so really it is a huge factor to a student’s overall well-being and achievement in school and later in life.”
Dodson said Van Buren County High School’s chronic absenteeism rate fell from 23.9% at the beginning of last school year to 11.1 percent by the end.
“The school system, the collaboration between Communities in Schools and the school system and the families really made the impact to drop our chronic absentee rate that significantly,” Dodson said.
Dodson said Communities in Schools has operated in Van Buren County since August 2019. Some of the problems it encounters involve needs that extend beyond the classroom.
“A lot of the barriers that we were seeing or the issues that maybe some of our families were facing, such as food insecurities, lack of transportation, lack of those basic needs, whether it be school supplies or clothing, or they didn’t have a way to wash their clothes at home,” Dodson said.
Dodson said assistance can include connecting families with community resources when basic necessities become an obstacle.
Dodson said Communities in Schools provides school-wide programs, small-group assistance and individual case management. The level of involvement depends on the circumstances facing each student.
“Each student has different needs, each family has different needs,” Dodson said. “And it’s really tailored and personalized to that family as far as what the support is, but at the end of the day, it’s building that relationship that empowers them to kind of overcome these barriers.”
Dodson said the program also works with the school’s guidance counselor, an on-site social worker, Volunteer Behavioral Health and the Family Resource Center to connect families with additional services.
Van Buren County High School began the current school year at an 11.1% chronic absenteeism rate. Dodson said the school hopes to reduce that number further.
“If we could even get that down a few more points, it would be a great success as well,” Dodson said.
