Students at WUHS made banners for National Attendance Awareness Month in the new Forge Lab. The Banners will be placed at each school in the district to remind children and families of the importance of attending school regularly.(Photo Courtesy of Aaron McCann)
A group of students at WUHS display the National Attendance Awareness Month banner they helped make in the new Forge Lab. (Photo Courtesy of Aaron McCann)
By Ryan Applegate
People’s Defender
September is National Attendance Awareness Month, a time when schools across the country are working to raise awareness about the importance of being in class every day. For the Adams County Ohio Valley School District, the observance comes at a critical time, as local leaders acknowledge that student attendance has become one of the district’s most pressing challenges.
Tracy Spires, Director of State and Federal Programs and one of the district’s attendance officers, explained that chronic absenteeism is not just an issue in Adams County, but a statewide and even national concern. “The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce monitors chronic absenteeism,” she said. “Last year, the state goal was 16.4 percent. This year, the goal dropped to 14.5. But our district was at 27.7, which means we have a lot of work to do.” Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 percent of the school year for any reason, excused or unexcused. That comes out to about 18 days in a typical year, or just two days a month.
Dierdre Mills, Assistant Principal at North Adams High School and also an attendance officer, said that while schools have always focused on truancy, which involves unexcused absences, chronic absenteeism is much broader. “Truancy deals only with unexcused hours and can lead to court intervention,” she said. “But chronic absenteeism includes both excused and unexcused hours. If a student misses 10 percent of the year, no matter the reason, they are considered chronically absent, and that affects our state report card.”
Both Spires and Mills emphasized that the state’s push is less about punishment and more about prevention. By the time truancy becomes an issue, a student has already missed significant classroom time. Chronic absenteeism shifts the focus to keeping students in school consistently so they don’t fall behind academically or socially.
For Mills, who previously served as principal at North Adams Elementary before moving to the high school, the differences are clear. “At the high school level, I’ve had parents call and say, ‘I can’t get my son or daughter out of bed.’ Or sometimes parents are already at work and assume their kids are on the bus, only to find out they’re still at home,” she explained. In these cases, the school doesn’t just shrug its shoulders. “I’ve personally gone to homes and picked up students. We have vans now for each attendance area, and I’m certified to drive one. We’ve also had our school resource officers conduct wellness checks and literally rouse kids out of bed. We do whatever it takes to get them in the building.”
Spires echoed that sentiment. “It’s very common for us to go pick up students,” she said. “If a parent says, ‘I can’t get them there,’ we’ll be there.” She added that the district encourages parents to reach out if they’re struggling to get their children to school, because staff can create intervention plans and work as a team to provide support.
Beyond home visits, the district is also trying to create a positive culture around attendance. Schools are using signage, digital message boards, and incentive programs to highlight the importance of showing up. “We recognize students with strong attendance, even if it’s not perfect, because missing less than 18 days a year really matters,” Mills said. “We just want kids and families to understand how quickly those days add up. No one in the workforce could miss 18 days in nine months and be considered reliable.”
This year, students who were chronically absent last year received letters at the beginning of school, outlining what chronic absenteeism means and how many days they missed. The idea is to educate parents, many of whom may not realize how much time their children were out of class. At North Adams High School, chronic absenteeism dropped from 28 percent in 2023–24 to 23 percent in 2024–25, but Mills stressed that even with progress, the numbers are still far from the state goal. “That’s still 105 students who missed more than 18 days,” she said. “That’s 105 kids missing a month of instruction.”
The reasons for absences vary. Some are tied to illness or injury, and in those cases, the schools work to provide instructional support. But other cases reflect patterns of avoidance, lack of structure, or deeper issues. “When we meet with families, we ask what the barriers are,” Mills said. “Sometimes it’s transportation. Sometimes it’s needing counseling. I’ve even bought alarm clocks for kids who said they couldn’t wake up. We’re willing to do whatever we can, because once they’re here, we can teach them.”
The district’s slogan this year is “Strive for Five,” encouraging students to aim for missing fewer than five days the entire school year. Staff are also looking at connecting students with attendance mentors, who can check in with them, encourage them, and let them know they are missed if they aren’t in class. “It’s not about saying, ‘Where were you?’ It’s about saying, ‘We missed you, what’s going on?’” Spires said.
Both administrators pointed out that involvement in extracurricular activities often improves attendance. Whether it’s sports, band, or newer offerings like archery, students who feel connected are more likely to show up. “We want every student to find a group they can belong to,” Mills said. “It makes a difference.”
The pandemic only intensified the problem. “Absenteeism exploded during COVID, and numbers haven’t gone back to where they were before,” Mills explained. “This is a national issue, not just ours. Kids got used to learning from home, but there’s no substitute for being in the classroom.”
That message is one Mills and Spires hope parents will take to heart during Attendance Awareness Month. “We hear parents say, ‘But my kid has A’s and B’s, why does attendance matter?’” Mills said. “But there’s more to school than grades. It’s about social interaction, learning life skills, and preparing for the future. Even if the assignments are turned in, kids miss out when they aren’t here.”
The district will continue to emphasize attendance through banners, recognition, and ongoing communication. “Every time we talk to a parent, it’s going to be about attendance,” Spires said. “We want everyone to understand how important it is. If kids are here, they can learn. And if they can learn, they can succeed.”
