Manatee County elementary school increased attendance from 89 to 97 percent

MANATEE -- An average of 97 percent of students who attend Manatee County's Samoset Elementary School are coming to class every day this year, according to Samoset Principal Pat Stream.

That's a big difference from last year's average attendance at Samoset and one that a national figure on chronic absenteeism applauded Tuesday.

"This is derived from teamwork and from a school district that supports it," said Hedy Chang, director of Attendance Works, a national initiative aimed at advancing student success by addressing chronic absences.

Chang was in Bradenton on Tuesday to speak to a breakfast crowd of 200 at Renaissance on 9th about the importance of breaking the cycle of chronic school absenteeism.

Stream, whose school is located at 3300 19th St. Ct. E., Bradenton, called the improvement "huge."

"We have improved by seven to 10 percent from last year," Stream said.

Instead of averaging 10 to 20 students out of school daily, around 89 percent, Samoset is averaging seven to eight students out, Stream said.

Stream said the attendance improvement, which officials with the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading also say is crucial to overall academic success, is partially due to Tawanda Means, Samoset's graduation enhancement technician, who started working at the school this year.

Means is part of a group of school district employees commonly known as GETS.

The 25 GETS, who are stationed at all the district's Title 1 schools, have the job of digging into absentee cases with diligence, calling parents of absent students to see why they are not in school and arranging strategies to get children back in class, Stream said.

The GETS are led by Title I specialist Brigid Stockner. Title 1 schools are schools where a high percentage of the student population qualifies for free or reduced lunch.

"Tawanda is modest, but it's not just GETS training that has gotten her where she is," Stream said. "It's her personality and her communication skills and connections in the community. People are just attracted to her like a magnet."

Stream also credited the attendance rise to Harvest United Methodist Church in Lakewood Ranch which has "adopted" the school, donates food for a food pantry for needy school families and helps children who may need a ride.

"I think Harvest United's role is not to be underestimated," Chang said.

The GETS, whose job descriptions is mirrored in some of Chang's ideas of schools and parents working as a team, have their work cut out for them.

Nearly 10,000 children in the Manatee-Sarasota region were chronically absent last year, according to Manatee school district figures.

The data show from 2013 to 2014, 12.8 percent of students were chronically absent, which means 21 days or more, during the school year, according to statistics.

"If you talk to their parents, often they insist their child's attendance is normal and not unlike other children," Chang told the crowd. "These are children who have missed 21 days during the year, more than a month of school. These children are chronically absent."

Chang told the audience that Manatee County's kindergartners had the largest percentage of absenteeism.

Diana Greene, Manatee's superintendent, who attended Chang's speech, afterward said she was saddened when she first learned that kindergartners represent the largest group of absent students in Manatee.

"It impacted me because I did not think it would be our kindergartners who would be the ones that are most at risk of being chronically absent," Green said. "They really do not have control about how they get to school. It leads me to believe that our graduation enhancement techs have a great responsibility for our children. They can work with families to figure out what is at the root cause of why they are not coming to school. They can break that cycle early so it does not perpetuate itself as the children move through our school district."

Chang told the audience that many parents in Manatee County and all over the nation think the one or two days a month their child is out is typical and not a concern. She said that any absence from school, unless it is for a serious problem, should be avoided because children fall behind quickly.

"I think what parents all over Manatee County need to know is that you have a really committed school district from every level of leadership that wants to partner with you to make sure the hopes and dreams you have for your children come true," Chang said. "Part of that is all of us working together, understanding the key role that parents play in making sure kids are in school every day, monitoring how many absent days are happening. Even less than a day a month is a problem because once a kid misses one or two days a monthly they are falling off track."

Chang said parents who are having problems should notify their child's school immediately.

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee County elementary school increased attendance from 89 to 97 percent ."