Volunteers working for Baltimore City Public Schools starting chipping away at a list of more than 1,300 households with students who have missed 10 days or more since the start of school in late August. The first Sunday afternoon phone banking effort is not to punish students who haven’t shown up to school but instead help families facing barriers which could affect student attendance, officials said.
“They are calls to connect with them, to partner with them, and figure out how we can support them. Because, you know, these are all our children and we want them all to come to school,” said Tanya Crawford-Williams, the school system’s coordinator for the office of student conduct and attendance. “We just want to let families know that these calls are not punitive in any way.”
The phone calls are the latest effort to connect with families after schools have already made daily phone calls, sent letters and in some cases attendance monitors made home visits.
In recent years, the district created “attendance bus tours,” where social workers and other district staff visit neighborhoods to discuss attendance and direct families to resources.
Angela Alvarez, executive director of new initiatives, said when she heard about the phone bank, she decided to lend a hand by volunteering.
“If I can help us have more information, so we can support families with having strong attendance, then it is important to show up,” Alvarez said.
Concerns about the spread of COVID-19 is one reason students may not show up to class very often because parents have concerns about the virus and don’t feel comfortable sending their children to school, Crawford-William said.
Parent job loss, homelessness, poverty, traumatic experiences, and illnesses also play a role in absenteeism, she said.
After challenging experiences, she said, “they just don't come back, so a lot of it's really about educating the parent about alternative placements or programs that they may not be aware of.”
One of the resources that volunteers shared with parents is the school system’s Home and Hospital program.
Crawford-Williams said so far attendance is similar to previous school years but the main focus is to reduce absences whether excused or unexcused.
“What we're trying to do is reduce that number and increase the number of students that attend every day consistently,” she said.
