Vallejo school district sees promising attendance trends

VALLEJO – An increasing number of Vallejo City Unified School District students are regularly attending school a year after rolling out a plan to improve its students' low attendance rates. Newly released data shows that the district has seen a drastic reduction in its chronic absenteeism rate, the rate of students who miss 10% or more of the required instructional days.

VCUSD’s chronic absenteeism rate skyrocketed after the COVID-19 pandemic began. In the 2018-19 school year, VCUSD’s chronic absenteeism rate was 24.1%. But during the 2021-22 school year, the first year the California Department of Education resumed publishing school absence data after the pandemic hit, its rate was 58.1%. While the district’s rate dipped in the 2022-23 school year, it remained high at 49.2%.

But according to new data from Frontline Education, a company that helps organize data for school districts, that was down to 32.7% of students who were chronically absent last year. Early data for this school year indicate it may decline further; as of Tuesday, it was 27.5%.

District Director of Student Support Services Edison Kelly told the school board at a meeting last month that he’s pleased with the progress but not satisfied. 

“I have high expectations so no program is going to do quite what I intend it to do,” Kelly said.

VCUSD wasn’t alone in seeing increased absences following the onset of the pandemic. According to a report by the New York Times that analyzed 40 states and Washington, D.C., chronic absence jumped from around 15% before the pandemic to about 26% during the 2022-23 school year on average. The report attributed the high absence rate to mental and physical health issues, increased disciplinary problems, and, especially for poorer students, transportation challenges and the need to take care of younger siblings.

During a board meeting last year, Kelly attributed VCUSD’s high chronic absenteeism rate to poverty, community and family trauma, as well as problems with public transportation. Then-Superintendent William Spalding said suspensions contributed to the high absence rate, and that the district was looking for alternatives to address behavioral challenges.

As part of implementing its plan, the district hired eight Community Attendance Liaisons, one of whom is fluent in Spanish, who work directly with students and families to help improve attendance. It’s also spread messages about the importance of attendance through social media and TV, while schools have organized assemblies, rallies, and competitions to help build a positive culture around showing up to school.

According to Duke Brown, a Community Attendance Liaison, building connections and trust is essential. His deep roots with the district and the community help. He was born and raised in Vallejo and has worked in various roles for VCUSD since 1988, including as a teacher, coach, and academic support provider.  

He told the Sun he makes 20-25 calls a day to families of students who aren’t showing up to school.

“I always try to build a relationship,” he said. “When you make phone calls and you got that calm voice, people usually will be honest.”

But Brown doesn’t just talk on the phone. He said that being out in the community helps him to build relationships.

“I don’t just sit in my office,” Brown said. “I walk around campuses, meet, greet, and talk to people, so when I go out into the community people know who I am.”

Brown said he also makes visits to homes about 15 times a week. Sometimes, seeing the environment a student lives in helps him to understand the difficulties a student might be facing coming to school. Whether he’s on the phone, at school, or in a home, Brown describes the work as restorative and not punitive.

“My goal is always to sit down and listen without interrupting,” Brown said. “By doing that, you’ll find out what the real reason is that a student isn’t coming to school. Then we try to build support around that reason.”

Brown told the Sun that sometimes the district can directly offer help through its student support services with academic support providers, counselors and mental health providers. Other times, the district helps connect students with outside agencies that can help, such as nonprofits and churches.

VCUSD and Soltrans have been collaborating to help get students to school as well. Soltrans spokesperson Mandi Renshaw told the Sun that last school year both Vallejo and Benicia’s school district shared that transit costs were a barrier for students that was impacting attendance. In response, Soltrans board approved a pilot program, launched on April 1, which allows those 18 years and under to ride the bus for free.

“Since the program’s launch, youth ridership has surged,” Renshaw said.

According to Renshaw, over twice as many people 18 years or younger rode Soltrans buses in September 2024 versus September 2023. The pilot is scheduled to end next June, but Renshaw said that Soltrans’ administrative staff plans to recommend that its board permanently adopt the program.

Renshaw acknowledges some students still face challenges using the bus to get to school. She said that Soltrans works with VCUSD and strives to align bus schedules with bell schedules, but some students have to take multiple routes to get to school. Soltrans adjusts its schedule every August. According to Renshaw the transit district is closely examining student challenges. 

“One of our top priorities is increasing the frequency of our routes to better meet the needs of riders, particularly students,” Renshaw said. "We are hoping to have the analysis complete by early spring and have service scenarios for the public to review and give input before summer.”

According to Kelly, reducing suspensions is another way the district is trying to lower its chronic absenteeism rate. His team meets regularly with vice principals to identify students that are having behavior challenges and set up care teams to try to find the root issue and help students improve, much like they do with attendance.

“A lot of time when you see a student that’s misbehaving a lot you find out the kid might be acting out trauma based on being homeless or dealing with tragedies,” Kelly said. “We work with that student to help them to cope with whatever issues they’re dealing with so it doesn’t become a barrier to their education.”

According to district data, 970 students were suspended in the 2021-22 school year. Suspensions shot up about 35% in the 2022-23 school year, when 1,314 students were suspended, but went back down last school year to 978 suspensions following the district implementing its new plans. So far this school year, the downward trend is continuing, as 225 students have been suspended through the end of October, fewer than at this point in each of the previous three school years. 

Kelly told the Sun that getting students to come to school more consistently is something he and his team have been passionate about, but they’re not doing it alone.

“It’s not just us,” Kelly said. “Teachers are doing well, principals, staff, and parents and students as well."