If the state auditor’s office has its way, high school students who miss too many days of school might not qualify for a driver’s license.
It’s a tactic other states, like Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana, have already implemented, and it’s one of the recommendations listed in a report the State Auditor Shad White released this week on chronic absenteeism. The report also suggested adding an attendance component to the state’s school accountability ratings, which are used to evaluate district performance.
District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, said adjusting the accountability score criteria would be more reasonable than taking students’ licenses. But he agreed with another recommendation that proposes assigning school attendance officers as district employees rather than MDE employees.
“I think it would be well worth our time to have that (attendance) connector, but we’re also going to have to put some money into making certain … that there are enough (attendance officers) to help our school districts,” Roberson said. “The only way we’re going to get the ability to manage these people correctly is for them to be under the local superintendent, so that they can have the ability to manage and keep up with what they’re doing.”
Students who miss at least 10% of a school year – or 18 days – are marked as chronically absent. The report estimates a 24.7% chronic absenteeism rate in Mississippi public schools in 2023-24.
The primary economic impact of chronic absenteeism, according to the report, is the increased likelihood that chronically absent students will drop out of school.
Jacob Walters, communication’s director for the State Auditor’s Office, said that while parents and school districts may be aware that absenteeism is a major problem, they may not know to what extent.
“It’s become so bad that we’re now at a point where 1-in-4 Mississippi students will be chronically absent throughout a school year,” Walters wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “…This issue is unsustainable and if we don’t make changes to address this problem now, then a generation of students will miss out on a better education and Mississippi taxpayers will bear the cost.”
The report estimates that chronically absent students who dropped out in the 2023 academic year will cost the state $550 million over time.
“High school dropouts are then more likely to earn significantly less income per year than graduates, and high school dropouts are also more likely to be arrested and/or rely on welfare programs,” the state auditor’s report reads. “For these reasons, data show high school dropouts cost the local economy nearly $300,000 over their lifetime.”
Area districts did not share their chronic absenteeism numbers for 2023-24 with The Dispatch, as the State Board of Education won’t approve those reports until next week.
For the 2022-2023 academic year, the state had a 23.8% chronic absenteeism rate, according to an MDE report. The rate for Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District in the same academic year was 24.1%.
Lowndes County School District had an 20.3% chronic absenteeism rate, and the rate for Columbus Municipal School District was 30.1%.
District reactions to report
CMSD Superintendent Stanley Ellis, SOCSD Communications Director Hayley Montgomery and LCSD Superintendent Sam Allison each said their districts create incentives for students to come to school, like giving districtwide awards or hosting themed parties for attendance.
Montgomery said in a district with a high rate of poverty, where many students need to drive to work to help support their families, revoking licenses may cause more problems.
“You’re looking at situations where, for some kids, that would certainly be a deterrent to missing schools,” she said. “But for other kids, it would increase a problem that they are already trying to manage as a minor. It’s more of a comprehensive issue than just simply saying just take their driver’s license.”
Ellis told The Dispatch he was for taking away licenses as a deterrent, but he would not support making attendance a component of the accountability scores because, while it isn’t a specified metric now, it shows up in test score results.
“There are too many other elements that may affect that,” he said. “Naturally, we know if students are not in school, if students are not in regular attendance, they tend not to do well academically. They don’t perform (well) on the tests.”
While Allison did not comment on the idea of revoking or preventing students from receiving licenses, he said for chronically absent students, incentives can be less effective.
“Those students present unique challenges for all districts,” he wrote in a statement to The Dispatch. “Anything the legislature can do to incentivize attendance is welcome.”
Montgomery agreed, adding that districts are already motivated to find new ways to get kids to school.
“So that disincentive of knocking us down on our accountability, I don’t know if that is as strong of an impact as it may seem like it is because our people want our children to learn,” she said. “We’re already trying to figure out how to get them here.”
Montgomery said it’s also important to appeal to partners when it comes to student attendance. She said SOCSD implemented a notification system this spring that alerts parents by text message and phone call when their student is counted absent. For high school students, parents receive a second notification if their student is still absent by 2 p.m.
“You want parents to be aware if they think a child might be in school and then they’re not,” she said. “Even if they know they’re child is absent, it’s just a reminder from the school district that we value attendance and that we try to encourage our parents to support attendance.”
But the bottom line when it comes to improving attendance rates, Roberson said, is encouraging students to go to school and to care about their education.
“I think that something that would be very beneficial is to get with these kids as early as possible and start presenting to them, first of all, why education is important, especially in whatever career field you’re going into,” he said.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
