Attendance rates improve again in G-E-T schools

Fighting chronic absenteeism and keeping students excited to be at school was a priority in the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District this year, and data presented Monday showed the district is seeing a chronic absence rate 14.1% lower than the state average.

Attendance is a continued issue for schools following the COVID pandemic for numerous reasons. Data shared by the state with G-E-T schools showed 40.7% of K-12 students across Wisconsin were considered truant or at “high risk attendance” in 2023-24, meaning they missed at least 10 days of school.

Overall attendance in 2023-24 improved for the third straight year across G-E-T schools.

The district saw 26.6% of all students miss at least 10 days this year, a decrease from 34.1% in 2022-23 and 52.4% in 2021-22.

“This is one thing we really worked on this year,” G-E-T curriculum director Sam Ruud said during a presentation at last Monday’s school board meeting. “And people were not always happy with us because we ask questions about why people are going to be gone and we mention how important it is to be at school learning with us... We’re going to work on that number again next year, but in the end we feel good about the work that’s been done.”

High school attendance improved for the third consecutive year. Principal Jamie Oliver reported 42.8% of students were at high risk for absenteeism compared to 58.3% in 2021-22.

Missing any portion of a school day counts as an absence. Oliver said the schools analyze data for individuals to keep up with children and give context to the reasons behind absences.

“We are going down from when we hit that peak in the 2021-22 school year, but there’s a lot of work to go. There’s a lot of room for improvement. We’re hoping to get that number much lower by working with all of our resources that we have within our buildings but also working with the county much closer than we have in the past,” Oliver said.

One student missed 35 to 40 days last year, Oliver said.

Five high school students were cited for truancy in 2023-24, and all but one had “near perfect” attendance after the citations, Oliver told the board. The district worked with county officials in 2023 to adapt its truancy rule.

Around 29% of middle schoolers were high risk, down from 57.6% two years ago.

Ettrick Elementary finished at 20%, while Galesville Elementary was at 33.1%. Trempealeau Elementary finished the year at 26.6%.

Ruud and building principals shared the data with the school board, which reflects students who were enrolled in G-E-T schools on Sept. 1, 2023.

Galesville Elementary principal Melissa Wilber told the board about one student from 2022-23 did not want to be at school and was absent frequently, and this year that same student missed only two days of school and was hugging staff every day.

Vacations lasting a week or longer have become part of the swelled numbers as schools see more families taking vacations than prior to the COVID school closure, multiple principals said. 

A week-long spring break in 2024-25 has officials hopeful for a reduction in vacation-related absences.

The district mental health team plans to work with staff in the fall regarding the growth of students facing depression, anxiety or other mental health issues by ensuring staff are creating connections with students and making them feel welcome.

“That affects kids coming to school and feeling good about being at school. This mental health team, this group of staff, are really digging in and helping all of us be kind of a tier one of how we can help students feel like school is a place they want to be,” Ruud said.