Malheur County schools find new ways to battle chronic absenteeism

The Civics Education Initiative, a statewide program sponsored by the Oregon State Capital Foundation. They help Oregonians learn how our government and democracy work and how you can get involved and make a difference. Grant applications to help nonprofit and educational organizations support civics education programs throughout Oregon are open now through September 30th at Oregoncapitalfoundation.org. This fall, let Curiosity lead you to Newport. The Newport Festival of Arts and Culture brings together music, arts, markets, culinary experiences, and community celebrations on the Oregon Coast. From September through November, take in world-class performances, explore the historic Bayfront, and discover the stories that make Newport unique. Unlock exclusive lodging offers for OPB listeners at Discovernewport.com slash OPB. The Newport Festival of Arts and Culture? where creativity is in the water. From the Gert Boyle studio at OPB, this is Think Out Loud. I'm Jeff Norcross. Oregon schools don't do very well when it comes to attendance. Data from the 2024- 2025 school year shows that Oregon has the second highest chronic absenteeism rate in the country. About a third of Oregon students miss more than 10 days of school a year. The picture in Malheur County is a bit brighter, though. The recent analysis of attendance data by the Oregon Journalism Project shows that students in Malheur are attending class more than any other county in the state. Why is that? One reason might have to do with the fact that the county has an ordinance that allows for truancy citations, and that means fines. We're going to talk more about this with Alicia McBride, who is the superintendent of the Vail School District. Alicia, welcome to think out loud. Thank you for having me, Jeff. It's kind of a return to citation power for you. You had that tool until the year 2021. What happened that year that took that ability to deliver citations away from you? That is correct. In 2021, Senate Bill 817 made it so that school districts did not have the citation process as one of the tools to promote high attendance in public schools. What happened? What happened to attendance rate after that was taken away by the state? Interestingly, the state attendance data, regular attenders data, dropped significantly from just the 2020. And we do have to factor in that some of this data was also impacted by the COVID pandemic. Sure. But prior to the COVID pandemic, the state of Oregon was fluctuating around the high 79 to 82 percent regular attenders rates. And in 2021-22, the year after this lever or this tool was removed as an option, it dipped down to less than 64% as a state. What does that tell you?

It was a pretty immediate reaction in attendance rates, not only in Malher County, but also in the state in general. And so it is one hypothesis that the option to issue a citation or use that as a tool to promote high attendance could have impacted that rate. Yeah. And I don't want to. suggest for a minute that citations or the lack of them are the only factor in attendance but we want to focus on it a little bit before we move on and I'd like to hear more about the process of passing the local ordinance that made it so that you could issue citations again can you tell me about those conversations Yes, so locally in Malheur County, superintendents collaborate often. And as we were noticing the decline and the significant decline in our attendance rates, in Malheur County, our regular attender rates went from 83% to 70% in just one year of not having that as a local lever. And so we began having conversations about the potential cause. And because we were also at the same time lifting up other supports in response to re-engaging students and families after the COVID pandemic. So we had more resources and supports in place than ever before, but we were noticing a decline in attendance rates. And we know that if we want other metrics, such as reading scores, math scores, ninth grade on track scores, graduation rates to... improve, we know that students have to be in school regularly. So we began to have conversations locally with our district attorney and our county commissioners about the possibility of enacting something locally within our county. Was there ever any doubt that you could do that legally, go your own way on citation power? There was a lot of research that was completed and an avenue that made it possible legally was discovered through all of those conversations and the analysis. And our district attorney was a key player in that process. We were able to craft an ordinance that does align with the state law. Okay. Can you be specific about when you can issue a truancy citation and what the actual cost is? Yes. So the... A regular attender in Oregon is defined as a student who attends school 90% of the time or more. So any student that is attending less than that is considered to be chronically absent by definition in the state of Oregon.

And our local ordinance language mirrors the state's definition. So truly any student who has less than a 90% regular attender rate is eligible for a citation, but I would like to emphasize that although this tool is available, It is very rarely used in our county. For example, in the 25-26 school year, we have approximately 6,000 students that we serve in Malheur County, and there were only 35 citations issued, which is less than 1%. So this tool, or excuse me, I 45 citations issues, but still a very, very small percentage of students and families are receiving citations because the emphasis in this ordinance is not to issue a citation. It is to ensure that... families and students engage and attend school regularly prior to issuing a citation. Well, then why do you think it had such a positive effect, given that you use the citation power so rarely? I think that it is a lever in our toolbox. A really good comparison would be there's a law in Oregon that requires parents to send their children to school regularly. But in Oregon, as a state right now, there is not a consequence for not sending your child to school regularly. Similarly, there are speed limit laws. an individual is not following the speed limit, there is the potential for receiving a citation. It doesn't always happen, but it is a lever that encourages individuals to align their practices with the law. Even the potential, though, for some sort of fine would seem to hit hard in Malheur County because nearly one in five people in the county live below the federal poverty line. I'm wondering if you had that in mind when you made the decision to bring back the citation power. I think that any monetary potential monetary fine is always a deterrent from behavior. And we see that mirrored in other consequences in laws throughout the state of Oregon. I think a monetary fine is a motivator to ensure that individuals are aligning their practices with the laws. If you're just tuning in, we're talking about the comparatively high attendance rate in Malhear County, Oregon.

And what's happening there that might be getting more kids to school. Citations is one part of the puzzle, but there are others. Alicia McBride is the superintendent of the Vail School District. Alicia, can you talk about some of the other barriers that families have reasons that kids aren't showing up to school and how you're getting around them? That's a really good question. And it's important to note that we are problem solving with parents. At the very beginning, and many of our problem-solving practices are resulting in improved attendance so that we aren't even going down the path of a citation. Some of the common barriers in our county include an increase in mental health challenges for students who are returning to school after the pandemic. We live in a county that encompasses almost 10,000 square miles. And so we have a very large county and sometimes we don't have very much public transportation. So sometimes transportation can be a barrier. There are instances in which older siblings are required to support younger siblings at home if they're ill. So our process is to help problem solve with parents and identify what those barriers are. and then help remove those barriers and work with the families so that if child care is an issue, we're connecting them with community resources to find child care that is affordable and reliable. Well, can you be specific about other services, wraparound services that are available to families who are struggling with chronic absenteeism? Yes, one of the primary functions of our system, and even when we get to the citation process, is an effort to wrap around, learn more about the individual circumstances, and then use that information to develop a wrap-around plan. And I think this goes back to the intent of the citation is to avoid a fine. And that was very intentionally written into the ordinance. When a family appears before the judge, the judge will ask the family and the school about the different barriers and what they are seeing. And then the judge will say, it sounds like you might need assistance. for housing. Perhaps you're living in a situation where you're living in an RV, and that is creating challenges to get your child to school because you're simply looking to meet your basic needs and school isn't a priority right now. The judge can say, I want to connect you with this resource, and if you go to this resource and allow this community resource to help you to resolve this barrier, I am not going to find you. So there is encouragement from even the last step in the process, the actual citation, for families to engage in services, problem solve, and address barriers to avoid a fine. You know, it sounds like you're saying on some level that good absenteeism numbers within county schools is kind of a marker for the broader county and how the residents are doing.

We, in Malher County, we are one of the highest poverty counties in the state of Oregon. And we know that if students are attending school regularly and they're accessing resources, every school district in our county provides free breakfast and free lunch to our children. So we know that their basic necessities in regard to meals are being met. We have counselors at each of our buildings. We know that mental health needs are being met, and students are attending regularly, are accessing their academic supports. We know that students, in order to navigate outside of poverty and develop a plan for success after high school, they have to attend school regularly so that we can change the trajectory of the poverty rate in Malhear County. High attendance is necessary to achieve that. You touched on this earlier, but I'd like you to be a little more specific if you can. How did the COVID-19 outbreak rearrange expectations around attendance and how are you still feeling those effects? The expectations didn't really change after the COVID pandemic other than during the COVID pandemic attendance accounting rules were slightly different to accommodate the different learning styles. So we had already started to kind of emerge from the pandemic when Senate Bill 817 went into effect. So I would. the change in the attendance expectations and the attendance data more to the removal of citations as a strategy than the actual COVID pandemic. So there are, I'm sure, other counties who are looking at their attendance numbers and wishing they could be more like yours, especially in rural parts of the state. I'm wondering what advice you might have for other counties and lessons they can take from your success. Interestingly, we receive communication from superintendents throughout the state on almost a weekly basis asking how we navigated this process and what our system looks like. So we're actively sharing that information because this isn't just a Vail school district initiative. It was a Malheur County initiative. And I think that that is why we are experiencing such success. The expectation in Malher County is that students attend school regularly. It's not just a suggestion, and that is consistent across every school district. As other school districts are looking at this and other counties are looking at this, I would encourage them to reach out to any of the superintendents in Malheur County and even come observe the process. But on that note, I think it's inefficient for every county and every superintendent to navigate this process separately and have different expectations.

in different counties. I really believe that it needs to be looked at more seriously at a statewide level. Do I hear you saying then that you think the state laws around adcentiaism and citation power should go back to what they were before 2021? I don't know if they should go back to exactly what they were before. There were attempts in the 23 and the 25 session to read the citation option for chronic absenteeism processes. But I think what we've learned in Malhear County is that a system of support that works collaboratively with community partners to address and address barriers is successful. But in order for that to be truly impactful, there has to be some accountability for the parents. Because what I can share with you is school districts and school district superintendents and staff at all levels of every school district in the state of Oregon are working harder than they've ever worked before to try to increase attendance rates. It's not a lack of effort. It's a lack of tools for other school districts in their toolbox to hold families accountable to sending their children to school. Right now, the burden is on school districts. So what is your message for parents in your school district who may be looking at the coming school year and may worry that they're not going to be able to get their kids to school as much as they need to? We have been able to maintain high attendance rates in Malher County and in the Vail School District. And I want to be clear that if a student simply drops below that 90% threshold, we don't immediately go to a citation. We engage. We are making daily phone calls. We are sending letters. We are arranging problem solving meetings. So the citation is never a surprise to a family. promoted a significant amount of engagement prior to the citation being issued. We've attempted to connect with community partners and help families remove barriers. And as I shared previously, the citation lever is very rarely used because most families engage and were able to remove those barriers or address them at the school level. It's when the resources that are required to address the chronic absenteeism are outside of our scope or if families are just choosing not to engage because they really don't have to engage with resources if we recommend it. But if a judge recommends it, then there's more accountability to engage. Alicia McBride, thank you so much for this. And good luck with the new school year.

Thank you. Alicia McBride is the superintendent of the Vail School District in Malhear County. Coming up after a break, we'll spend some time with a uniquely Cuban-American genre of music. We'll talk with a Portland vocalist who specializes in the style known as feline. Stay with us.