After Delay, D.C. Council Conducts Hearing on Chronic Absenteeism - The Washington Informer
In the days and weeks leading to the Dec. 12 hearing, Jessica Giles of Education Reform Now DC (ERN DC) made the rounds at the John A. Wilson Building in Northwest in demand of an interagency response to chronic absenteeism and declining postsecondary enrollment.
ERN DC and Leaders of Color, an ERN DC leader fellowship program, also facilitated testimony preparation sessions for parents who want to see the council and District agencies provide resources to students.
ERN DC released a study in November that designated chronic absenteeism as a roadblock in student achievement and long-term career advancement. Giles, executive director of ERN DC, told The Informer that many students in D.C., a city with some of the highest rates of chronic absenteeism in the country since before the pandemic, are missing school, in part, out of fear for their safety.
That’s why Giles cited the Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education, Court Social Services, CFSA, Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), and the D.C. Office of Victims Services and Justice Grants as instrumental in executing a strategy that supports student safety and improves attendance.
“Students are concerned about getting to school safely, and it’s contributing to the chronic absenteeism issue before us,” Giles said. “The decline in student mental health and well-being plays a factor. The D.C. government and our council committees need to make sure our students go to school every day and consistently. It’s incumbent upon the agencies that have oversight over attendance to take urgent steps to make sure we’re addressing this crisis.”
