The Attendance for Success Act signed in 2019 required schools to track and report to the state as well as work on implementing supportive interventions. This week, the Legislative Education Study Committee reported that while the law is strong on paper, there are concerns about schools' capacity to implement those interventions
Chronic absenteeism is not just a problem in New Mexico. No school district across the country has returned to pre-pandemic numbers. However,the state is sitting at 39% of students absent during the 2022-2023 school yearmaking it the highest rate nationally.
Senior Policy Analyst at the Legislative Education Study Committee Jessica Hathaway said the Attendance for Success Act was passed to change those numbers. It allows schools to track data and implement atiered intervention strategy that ranges from looking at the wellbeing of a whole school to creating individual attendance plans.
"There’s consistency in what schools and district’s are doing to support attendance statewide. However, what may be missing is meaningful, localized, and community-driven approaches, which the research really shows works if family engagement is at the heart of effective attendance strategy" said Hathaway.
Hathaway suggested that lawmakers in the upcoming Legislative session in January could look at greater investments in building school capacity, creating new positions dedicated to attendance, and clarifying expectations for existing attendance teams.
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