One in 6 Long Island students were chronically absent in 2023-24 school year, Newsday analysis finds

More Long Island students attended school consistently last year following an alarming surge in chronic absenteeism — but the absence rate was still higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, a Newsday analysis found.

The overall rate of chronic absences for Island schools dropped from 19.4% in 2022-23 to 17.6% in 2023-24, according to state data.

Across the region, more than 100 out of the Island’s 124 districts had fewer chronically absent students in 2023-24 than the year prior. The Islandwide trend mirrors that of New York overall, where the rate of students missing so much school fell from 29.1% to 27.3%.

“It's promising,” said Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a national organization whose mission is to reduce chronic absence. But, she added, “The fact that it's a relatively modest improvement speaks to the fact that we're going to have to keep working at this. This isn’t going to be solved overnight.”

One in 10 Island students was already chronically absent, defined as missing 18 or more days of school for any reason, when the pandemic began in 2020. At its peak during the 2021-22 school year, 20% of Long Island students were chronically absent, roughly doubling the pre-pandemic level.

Eight districts on the Island still had an absenteeism rate higher than 30% last school year and 21 had a rate higher than 20%. Hempstead reported the worst absence level at 49.2% in 2023-24, followed by Central Islip at 38.9% and Uniondale at 35.6%, according to state data.

The best-performing K-12 districts were Great Neck, with a 5.6% absence rate, and Herricks at 5.9%.

With many students still failing to attend school on a regular basis, learning recovery has been slow.

As of last spring, the average student in the United States lagged nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic outcomes and widespread absence further threatens those results, a group of researchers found.

Research has shown students who chronically miss school are less likely to read proficiently by third grade and are more likely to drop out of high school. And a growing body of research indicates pervasive absences can affect not just those students who fail to show up but also drag down the academic performance of those who regularly attend school.

Researchers have linked high levels of absences in a classroom to worsening test scores for all students. And when absences are pervasive, one study found, teachers are less satisfied with their jobs.

“Even the kids who are there every day, they are now in environments where there's enough kids that are not there that it slows down the learning,” said Abe Fernández of Children's Aid, a New York City-based organization that works to help children in poverty.

“Teachers have to think about how to catch kids up,” he said. “It just becomes a whole school issue.”

Post-pandemic improvement

The 2023-24 school year marked the second year in which there were no COVID-era related restrictions on schools and most districts saw attendance bounce back.

The William Floyd district saw the biggest improvement, with its chronic absence rate dropping from 47.1% in 2022-23 to 32.1%. District officials there declined to comment.

The three districts — Hempstead, Central Islip and Uniondale — that had the highest absenteeism rates also saw their numbers slightly improve.

"Teachers have to think about how to catch kids up,” he said. “It just becomes a whole school issue.

- Abe Fernández of Children's Aid, a New York City-based organization that works to help children in poverty.

Gary Rush, Hempstead’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said the district has prioritized attendance. 

“When we look at support for a student now, attendance now is probably the number one factor,” he said. “Nothing you're going to do is going to work if the student isn't here.”

But the district has been plagued by budget woes and is facing a $34 million deficit. With plans to close an elementary school and cut staff, interim Superintendent Susan Johnson said she had wanted to reinstate truancy officers but doesn’t have the money to do so.

In Uniondale, which was among the districts that saw huge improvements the year prior, officials have continued its efforts, schools Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil said.

The “centrality” of school shifted for some students during the pandemic, when districts moved to remote learning, she said. 

“What we do know is that for some, school became more optional,” Darrisaw-Akil said.

And the impact of the loss families suffered during the health crisis has not ended.

“If you lost a parent … or grandparent during the pandemic, that five years doesn't mean you're not still feeling trauma and loss,” she said. “There are multiple challenges that a lot of people have experienced during the pandemic that still find their way in school.”

Data, communication, connection

Educational experts have said data plays a big role in identifying trends and targeting intervention for students who are either chronically absent or moving in that direction.

Another strategy is better communication.

“Families might not realize that even something as seemingly benign as a mental health day once every two weeks can add up to chronic absenteeism across the school year,” said Matthew Ritter, Uniondale’s assistant superintendent for planning, assessment, data and accountability.

In Central Islip, where the absenteeism rate decreased by 1.1%, school officials listed in an email initiatives the district has undertaken to combat high chronic absence, including “Breakfast With the Principal” at the elementary level.

Unal Karakas, superintendent of Valley Stream 24, attributed his district’s reduction in chronic absence to a concerted approach. His district, which is made up of three elementary schools, saw a decrease in absenteeism from 19.4% to 14.8%.

“It took strategy and a village to make this happen,” Karakas said. “We looked at the data carefully to identify which student is at risk each month. Our principals worked to inform parents. We did workshops around chronic absenteeism.”

Roosevelt High School was among the individual Island high schools that saw the biggest improvement in cutting down on chronic absences.

In 2022-23, more than half of the school’s students were considered chronically absent. That rate dropped to 34.4% last school year, meaning nearly 200 students were attending school more consistently.

Nearly 70% of the school’s more than 1,000 students are from low-income families, according to state data. In recent years, officials installed a washer and a dryer in school to help families who can't launder their clothes at home. A health clinic is on site. School officials said they are working to set up a food pantry.

Interim Principal Carleen Henry said the school has expanded its curriculum and activities in an effort to pique students’ interest and incentivize them to come to school.

“We try to create courses and programs that will grab every aspect of a child's life," she said.

But Henry believes what has made the biggest difference in boosting attendance is the "human connections" forged inside the school building.

'Revived' hope

It's those connections that have helped students like Christian Headley.

In the past, Headley, 17, said he had days where he struggled to come to school.

“Sometimes it just be like, maybe not even just schoolwork but just overall life,” the teen said in school on a recent morning. “It's just too much for that one day.”

This school year though, the Roosevelt High junior said he has had fewer of those days and found himself actually looking forward to his daily routine: greeting the security guards and others after arriving, getting water from his favorite water fountain (the one that has the coldest water), stopping by an assistant principal’s office to say hello before settling in for his first-period art class.

His favorite time, however, doesn’t start until 2:45 p.m. — when the last period ends.

Headley attends various after-school programs, including tutoring, basketball and My Brother’s Keeper. The teen said he joined the program, meant for male students of color, last fall after Jamel Ricks, a security guard at the school, encouraged him to take part.

The two got to know one another after Ricks started singing birthday songs to students during lunch a few years ago.

“It's horrible singing,” Ricks said recently during an interview. “I do it just to make everyone feel special.”

With a bullhorn in hand, Ricks would sing to students eating lunch in the cafeteria. Some time after, Headley started to supply him with the middle names of students celebrating birthdays.

“I call their full name because the kids don't like that,” Ricks said with a laugh. “But you know, it’s something funny [to them].”

Afterward, when Headley had issues, Ricks said he would come speak to him. The teen has helped him as well: Ricks, who became a mentor with My Brother's Keeper last fall, recalled feeling "dejected” after one meeting when he realized how difficult it was to keep students’ attention.

“When I saw Christian, I was telling him how I was feeling,” Ricks recounted. “He said: ‘Jamel, you did good. … Sometimes maybe just tell us some of those stories you tell us, like how you do when we come to the lunchroom. We are always interested to hear things about what you went through.’ I said, ‘You know what? That's a good idea.’ ”

Headley, who said he had negative experiences with educators in the past, said the staff at Roosevelt High changed his perception. He credited the “genuine bond” he has fostered with Ricks and others.

“I kind of lost hope a little bit,” Headley said. “But they revived it.”

Educators at the high school said they have seen a transformation in the young man.

“He's a different Christian than what he was in ninth grade," Henry said.  Back then, she said, “He didn't want to be here. He was not part of the student body."

Now, she added, "He's looking at colleges."