Dupage Policy Journal

At the March 22 meeting of the Addison School District 4 Board of Education, the board heard from assistant superintendent of student services Keri Karpman who discussed truancy and attendance rates in the district.

Karpman described the progress made by the district's family liaisons over the past few years. She said they were brought into the district two years ago to help support families and have since provided resources and support to improve students' educational journeys.

Karpman said the district has seven liaisons across its nine schools.

"Our team is responsible for providing supplementary and student support services beyond the traditional teaching and learning structures," Karpman said. "Part of my job is to collaborate with our community partners to bring needed resources to our families."

Karpman explained a major part of the family liaison's job includes spending a lot of time working with parents and families. Through letters, phone calls, emails, texts and home visits when warranted, she said they initiate much of the communication around student attendance. Karpman said a home visit is deemed to be necessary once a student has been out of class for multiple days in a row. The purpose of home visits is to determine the cause of the absences and if the district can do anything to support the family. 

Karpman said attendance data is shared within the district. She said this policy improves the efficacy of communication when a family has multiple students in different buildings.

Karpman told the board that the past school year showed a 24.7% chronic absenteeism rate, with a 92% attendance rate in the district across its 3,561 students. While the numbers remain higher than the state's current average, Karpman said the liaisons are improving the numbers. 

This comes as the pandemic had a disastrous effect on attendance rates in schools, especially among minority groups. While the district has seen major improvements since the initial COVID year, it has since cut its truancy rates in half.

Students told the board that the support of the liaisons improved their attendance rates. They said they were helped by emotional motivation, being provided with school supplies and having the district in more constant communication with their families.