MACON, Ga. — Parents, you might want to listen to this one.
The Bibb County School District has looked at their end of the year results and wanted to address chronic absenteeism.
Chronically absent means missing 10% or more of the school year, and according to the district, that covers 29% of their students.
Superintendent Dan Sims went live on Facebook Wednesday to put out a call to action.
"I would not be bringing this to the table if it was not a significant issue that we're dealing with right now," Sims said in his Facebook Live.
Sims is asking for parents' help in getting their children to school on time after noticing a decrease in student attendance.
"Borrowing sickness or emergencies, we need students at school every single day on time for the entire time," Sims said.
Sims also talked about ways to improve and encouraged parents to follow these four steps:
- If you have any concerns, stop by the school and set up an appointment.
- Establish night routines for your kids
- Establish morning morning routines for your kids
- Make school non-negotiable, and reset the expectation that students don’t get to decide whether they come to school or not.
"We have a population of students who are missing significant days," Sims said. "This translates to missing instruction, missing counseling, missing mentorship, missing the environment, missing the social and emotional growth we're trying to promote within them. We have to turn that around."
Myesheia Yarber, a school counselor at Burdell-Hunt Elementary School, is trying to turn it around.
"Our ultimate goal is to educate students, and we just can't do that if they're not here," Yarber said.
Yarber mentioned that over the years, she's realized kids have so many issues they bring to the classroom.
Working with the school's attendance team, she contacts families to see what help they need.
Yarber says school can't be an option, and these kids can't learn and grow unless they're present.
"When they miss one day of instruction, then you multiply that times the additional days that they've missed during the school year, it's going to have an impact on student achievement," Yarber said. "Attendance plays such a critical part in the role of educating a student."
Sims says parents should be aware of their kids' academic progress as well as safety and behavior at school.
Parents should also help students prepare for the standardized tests in April.