Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), one of the most substantial school districts in Michigan, has reported a decrease in chronic absenteeism. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti’s July report highlights a drop from 77% in the 2021-22 school year to 68% in 2022-23. Despite the drop, Detroit’s chronic absenteeism is still more than twice the statewide average of 38.5%.
Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing at least 10% of the school days in a 180-day schedule, has persistently challenged Detroit’s schools. The recent decline signals a possible turning point for the district, which saw its absenteeism rate as low as 54.8% in 2015-16 before a rise to 70.3% in 2017-18.
Still, this year-over-year improvement comes amid a comprehensive restructuring of the district’s budget and staff and represents a significant step forward in the district’s ongoing fight against chronic absenteeism, especially among Black students, who make up a substantial percentage of the student body.
“We are proud of this improvement but are not satisfied. It was not easy to shift the organization and people’s thinking out of the real challenges the pandemic created,” said Vitti. “However, we knew we had to return to our reform and improvement agenda or students would fall farther behind. The reform effort had to include improving chronic absenteeism.”
DPSCD’s Board of Education recently approved a balanced $1.135 billion budget for the 2023-24 school year in federal COVID funds. The budget includes approximately 280 personnel changes and allocates $235 million to fully fund $700 million in facility projects. The changes, which have resulted in layoffs and job reassignments, are part of a massive personnel restructuring plan. The affected individuals include kindergarten paraeducators, school culture facilitators, and college transition advisors, along with some members of the central office staff, principals, and assistant principals.
The budget maintains current class sizes, enhances the number of academic interventionists, and sustains or expands student wellness through mental health support at schools. The district’s plan also retains attendance agents for larger schools, provides district-based support for smaller schools, and continues course recovery efforts at high schools to ensure students graduate within four years. A projected $4.2 million surplus will be used to address potential emergencies, shifts in enrollment, or unexpected spending across the district’s 106 schools.
Arguably, Detroiters like Aliya Moore, mom of Paul Robeson, a student at Malcolm X Academy, are questioning this initiative, saying that much more is needed to truly eliminate chronic absenteeism. Amidst the current struggles with busing throughout the city that have resulted in delayed routes in addition to inflation causing financial struggles, Moore believes that transportation is more of a barrier, causing students to miss classes.
“The district is failing to focus on transportation as a chronic absenteeism issue,” said Moore. “Opening up health hubs will be great for students if services are provided but hiring more attendance agents, expanding the new white district vans, hiring and expanding yellow bus routes, investing in more DDOT bus tickets, or spending more money with transportation companies should be priority.”
DPSCD’s student body is primarily composed of Black students, many of whom come from underserved neighborhoods. These students often rely on busing and free lunch to have a productive school day. Moore asserts that if barriers are encountered in meeting these essential needs, such as simply getting to the school building, it may inherently lead to continued absenteeism, and more specifically, chronic absenteeism.
Moreover, the district’s K-12 student enrollment is anticipated to hold steady at 48,200 students; officials project a 335-student increase in preschool, adding 20 new classrooms in the upcoming school year. Total enrollment is still approximately 2,000 students below pre-pandemic levels, according to officials.
Notably, the district saw budget growth in 2021 and 2022, primarily due to $1.2 billion in federal COVID funds allocated over four years and set to be spent by September 2024. A budget amendment reflecting final state funding levels and fall count day enrollment is expected in the fall.
Vitti said: “Our performance data is clear: our students are 3-5 times more likely to be at or above grade level in literacy and math and to be college ready when they miss less than nine days of school. We will build on this improvement for next year and expect to continue to reduce chronic absenteeism.”
Amid these changes, the district remains committed to supporting all students, especially Black students who have been historically impacted by systemic issues. Reducing chronic absenteeism is a significant part of ensuring these students have equal access to quality education.
Although Detroit’s chronic absenteeism is cause for concern, it’s also important to understand the underlying conditions that contribute to this issue. Inflexible work schedules for parents/caregivers, unreliable and expensive childcare for children who aren’t school-aged, a poor public transit system, and several other factors oftentimes leave guardians with no choice other than to keep kids home from school. These are not excuses for the thousands of caregivers who are responsible for getting children to school, but rather overarching issues that need to be tackled in order to change the staggering and alarming rates of chronic absenteeism among DPSCD students.
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