BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

MASSENA — Massena Central School Board members are attempting to address chronic absenteeism, a problem that was seemingly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic but has since receded.

“Prior to the pandemic, we were making significant strides to improve student attendance through stronger parent communication, classroom competitions, incentives, focus on classroom environment, and a variety of other strategies,” Superintendent Pat Brady told board of education members.

School officials are now taking steps through a number of initiatives to improve student attendance.

According to Brady, the pandemic created “significant barriers in attendance” that have continued to linger, causing an increase in students who are not attending school for a number of reasons.

Brady said the goal is to “reinvigorate the previous work” conducted by administrators and educators that previously helped with attendance.

School climate is one potential source of the disconnect with students, something the district has worked hard to address, Brady said.

“Climate is all to create an environment where students want to be here or they have the resources that they feel comfortable being here,” he said.

School officials have continued to stress parent involvement as one of the keys to cutting down the number of students who miss school.

Engagement with their child, including maintaining daily routines and having conversations with them to ensure they’re engaged and comfortable in class are just a few ways to ensure students continue to attend school, officials say.

According to Brady, students who miss 10% of school days are considered chronically absent. That amounts to 18 days of school missed.

Involvement in extracurriculars and sports is also ground students, giving them a sense of belonging, Brady said.

“Oftentimes when I’m dealing with students who are struggling, they don’t have a connection at school,” Brady said.

One concern raised by Board Member Kevin Peretta was the possibility that some students who may want to attend BOCES are unable to do so.

According to Brady, no student has been turned away from attending BOCES.

“There may be programs that are full at the BOCES that they may not get the program they want to be into, which impacts their decision whether they go to BOCES. But, we have not put a cap on,” he said.

Brady said he would work with administrators and counselors to determine how many, if any, students were not able to get into their desired program.

According to Board Member Susan Lambert, counselors made large efforts years ago to ensure students are able to attend their desired program.

The change really affected the programs at BOCES, she said.

“That was my experience, that we really tried hard to get any student any chance to make sure that they could stay in school and get a diploma,” she said.

Lambert previously worked as the district’s director of special education until retiring.

““We know that there are seat time issues there and it does impact our decision-making. We’re often having the counselors contact Seaway Tech and say, ‘OK, the student may be out for a little while. What can we do? We don’t want them to be out of the program. What can we do to keep them in the program, but still hold them accountable?’ So, there’s a lot of that going on as well,” Brady told board members.

Officials say they will continue to work on initiatives to improve student numbers while also assessing potential new initiatives that could aid in ensuring student engagement in school.