Over the past couple of Stafford Board of Education meetings, Interim Superintendent Dr. Laura Norbut has updated the board on a number of things, including, at the September 23, 2024 meeting, results from the 2023-2024 Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBAC), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), SAT, PSAT, Advanced Placement (AP), and LAS Links (Multi-Language Learners). At the October 21, 2024, meeting, she was joined by the principals from the district’s schools to talk about the ongoing School Improvement Plans.
It’s worth taking a deeper dive into the improvement plans for each school, which you can do here, but one common theme emerged – addressing absenteeism is still a priority. It’s not all bad news, though. Dr. Norbut told the board that the overall percentage of chronically absent students decreased from 24% to 19%, so progress is being made.
When board member Christopher Paradiso asked what the causes of absenteeism were, the answers varied. At the elementary school level, many absences are caused by illness, where students entering the system for the first time are susceptible to viruses. Family vacations that do not align with the school calendar also were an issue. West Stafford and Stafford Elementary Schools are trying to implement spirit days on half days to encourage students to come to school even for a shorter period of time.
Tim Kinell, Principal at Stafford Middle School, said, “There are as many answers as there are students experiencing absenteeism.” He pointed to anxiety and issues with transportation, food insecurity, and work completion as factors in absenteeism. He also noted that, sometimes, students withdraw from school without ever finishing the proper paperwork, which ultimately means they are counted as chronically absent, even if they have moved away or are attending another school.
At the high school level, Principal Marco Pelliccia said the challenges are different. He said students learn that there are no real consequences for missing school beyond learning loss. He described meeting with frustrated parents who tried to get their kids to school and turned to them for help, but without more tools, the school is at a loss. This is a statewide problem that educators are up against.
2023-2024 test results
Students in Stafford take a number of tests and assessments, including Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBAC), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), SAT, PSAT, Advanced Placement (AP), and LAS Links (Multi-Language Learners). Dr. Norbut ran through the results for all of those, saying that the district is taking specific steps to address some of the areas for concern. (Watch the entire presentation starting around 22 minutes into the meeting.)
“I think one of the big takeaways for me…is really the confirmation that we did need to address and adjust our reading program at the elementary level,” said Norbut, alluding to the district’s move to using Amplify CKLA in its elementary schools. The schools are also implementing Bridges 3 for mathematics.
An unusual point of concern arose for SAT takers, or non-takers, as the case may be. Dr. Norbut described a handful of students who were prompted to take the test but chose “not to give it their all.” Pelliccia said a group of students did not show up on the day of the exam, and when they did show up, the administration directed them to take the test to meet participation rates of 95%. He said he thought it was an anomaly and did not expect to see the problem repeat.