(GRAND FORKS) – Administrators at the two high school in Grand Forks are working on ways to approach absenteeism in their buildings.
At a recent school board meeting, Grand Forks Central principal Jon Strandell and Grand Forks Red River principal Dr. Kris Arason presented school board members with their proposed high school attendance intervention plan.
According to data presented to the school board, truancy increased from 61.5 days in the first quarter of the 2018-19 school year to 503 days in the first quarter of the 2023-24 school year.
In 2017-18, 31.55 percent of Grand Forks Central’s student population had at least one class with 12 absences. In 2023-24, that more than doubled to 67.97 percent of students having at least one class with 12 absences.
The principals are proposing a tiered intervention plan.
In tier one, which would include six absences in a semester, communication with parents would be the lone action.
In tier two, at 10 absences in a semester, a phone call and meeting with parents would take place to discuss barriers and the next steps. In the meeting, a few agreed upon questions would be asked, including what the progression of the process looks like should more absences occur.
Tier three would be triggered at 12 absences in a semester. At that time, following a meeting with the student, a call home to alert the parent that an attendance contract has been signed and is being sent home for parent or guardian signature. The tier three would also result in no credit earned on work due or assigned on days the student is absent from that point forward. The signatures would not be required as direct conversations with the student and parent/guardian already took place.
A drop or transfer would be triggered at 18 absences. At that point, a student will be dropped from classes, with the possibility of online coursework to recover the credit. The possibility is based on the date classes were dropped.
The principals note that medical notes, signed by a doctor, and school-sponsored activities are the only absences that do not count against the total number of absences.
