MANSFIELD — Jillian Henry can still remember an elementary school reading contest where a class pizza party was on the line.
Sometimes, an incentive can energize a school building. Mansfield City Schools is taking advantage of that excitement this school year in an effort to bolster attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism.
The district is partnering with United Way of Richland County and non-profit agencies across Richland County to provide field trips and pizza parties to classes with the best attendance record during the second quarter of the school year.
“Being able to go to any one of these organizations and be able to play and learn is something that as a kid I would have loved to do,” said Henry, marketing manager for the Renaissance Performing Arts Center.
Two winning classes will be chosen for each building — the classroom with the best attendance overall and the classroom with the greatest improvement in attendance from the first to the second quarter.
School officials tallied attendance rates for each classroom during the first quarter to create a baseline.
Partnering organizations include the Buckeye Imagination Museum, the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, the YMCA of North Central Ohio, the Renaissance Performing Art Center and the Mansfield Arts Center. Field trips will take place in January.
“A little bit of healthy competition can go a long way in the school system,” said Emily Tackett, director of operations for the Ohio Bird Sanctuary. “We’re really excited about getting the kids here to learn about the bird sanctuary, getting the kids in with nature, and up close with birds.
In addition to incentivizing attendance, organizers hope the field trips will be an opportunity to expand students’ horizons.
“I think a lot of these places are not something that these kids would have had access to before and now they will,” said Ashlea Shaw, manager of community impact for United Way of Richland County.
“Maybe that will boost their interest in going back.”
Henry said she’s looking forward to welcoming a crew of students to the theater next year.
“It’s our hope that when kids come through our door, when they tour the Renaissance, when they get to engage with the performing arts, that maybe it sparks something in them that excites them and kind of starts a new path for them to continue to engage in the arts,” she said.
United Way executive director Dan Varn said the incentive program would not be possible without the support of Richland County donors.
“We are underwriting the entire cost of this program with these partners here because of the generous donors to the United Way of Richland County, allowing us to be able to support not only kids in the community, but these wonderful nonprofits,” Varn said. “We want to say thank you for that support.”
School attendance a statewide issue
Holly Christie, director of student support programs for Mansfield City Schools, said attendance rates suffered in the state and nationwide during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in part because schools were required to send kids home with even the mildest symptoms.
“Now we’ve loosened that up a little bit, but it did make our absenteeism rate go up,” she said. “We are appreciative of the partnerships and incentives that have been provided by the participating local agencies and welcome additional help.”
Christie said the district’s attendance rates at the start of the year were “healthier” than previous school years, but raising attendance rates across the board remains a goal for the district.
“At this time, (attendance rates) are looking pretty good, so we’re excited to see those changes,” she said.
“I’m a little worried about heading into the winter months. We are monitoring the data across the district and staff are reaching out to families, but understand that students who are sick need to miss school.”
The Ohio Department of Education defines chronic absenteeism as missing at least ten percent of instructional time due to absences.
The department found that between the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, chronic absenteeism rose across nearly every grade level and student subgroup, accounting for an overall rise of six percent.
Last school year, 30.2 percent of Ohio students were chronically absent, according to ODE. During the 2018-2019 school year, that figure was just 18 percent.
Many elementary schools within the Mansfield City School district had even higher rates of chronic absenteeism during the 2021-2022 school year.
Prospect Elementary had an attendance rate of 89.9 percent and a chronic absenteeism rate of 40.2 percent.
Sherman had an attendance rate of 86.9 percent and a chronic absenteeism rate of 55.8 percent.
Woodland had an attendance rate of 91.4 percent and a chronic absenteeism rate of 32.3 percent.
Spanish Immersion had an attendance rate of 93.1 percent and a chronic absenteeism rate of 20.6 percent.
Springmill STEM Elementary had an attendance rate of 89.7 percent and a chronic absenteeism rate of 44.1 percent.
In addition to the contest, some buildings have classroom attendance rates displayed to encourage good attendance. The district also has a number of supports available for students that fall behind, including tutoring programs during the day for grades K-2 and after school for grades 3-12.
Christie said she would love to expand the program to older grade levels in the future, but the group wanted to “start small.”
Varn said if the program results in “marked improvement” in elementary attendance, United Way will extend the partnership to other school districts throughout the county.
“We want to start small and certainly make sure that it works,” he said. “We feel like this is something that could grow and be beneficial and be a complement to the great work of all of our school districts.”
Christie said illness is a primary contributor to absenteeism, but sometimes other factors like displacement or homelessness can keep a child from attending school.
“Sometimes transportation is an issue if a student has moved and we don’t know,” Christie said.
“That’s when we start reaching out and finding out what the barriers are. It’s not meant to be a punishment if somebody’s coming to knock on the door to find out where you are.
“We’re concerned and we want to know. We want to help to remove any barriers that are in place to get you to school.”
