In Portland’s suburban communities, students are missing fewer school days than during the pandemic as both schools and society return to a sense of normalcy. However, the number of students missing 10% or more of the school year — defined as “chronic absenteeism” — remains higher than pre-pandemic levels and is seeing a slight increase this year so far.

A student is considered chronically absent after missing 10% of school days in an academic year, which typically amounts to 18 absences. These missed days include both excused absences and unexcused absences, the latter of which is also counted towards truancy rates.

For some students, a week missed due to illness, a few medical appointments and family travel extending beyond school breaks can result in a student being labeled chronically absent. Regardless of whether an absence is excused, missing school can impact a student’s academic performance, place added strain on teachers trying to catch students up, and disrupt the socio-emotional learning that occurs in the classroom and among peers.

“If you’re not here, we can’t teach you. So there are implications for student academic growth and development when kids aren’t here,” said SAD 51 Director of Academic Services Mar-E Trebilcock.

In the 2023-2024 school year, 28.4% of students across Maine were chronically absent, close to the national average of 26%. Rates of chronic absenteeism in suburban school districts such as Falmouth and Yarmouth are typically lower than state and national averages due to economics and community size. However, even low rates mean some students are missing one in 10 days of school.

At SAD 51, the school district for Cumberland and North Yarmouth, the rates of chronic absenteeism in the 2023-2024 school year dropped to 8.3% from 13% in the two previous years. However, the rate has risen to 10.5% this year. While the number may change slightly in the final month of school, it will likely be higher than last year, said Trebilcock.

“It’s unclear to me why this year has increased a bit,” said Trebilcock.

“It’s not super far off from where it was last year, but it’s definitely higher, and when you’re actively trying to reduce it from the 8.3% and it’s going up, that’s not where I want it to be on the game board,” she said.

In Falmouth Public Schools, 12.5% of student population were considered chronically absent as of April 1, up from 9.9% last year.

“There is no one thing that appears to be a driver out of the gate,” said Falmouth Superintendent Gretchen McNulty during the April 29 Falmouth School Board business meeting. She also said that some students have increased social anxiety following the pandemic, which could result in days missed.

At Yarmouth Public Schools, 10.58% of students have been chronically absent so far this academic year, a rate similar to last year’s 10.4% of students.

“We are seeing it at greater levels than we would like to see and we’re seeing it at levels higher than they were prior to the pandemic,” said Yarmouth Superintendent Andrew Dolloff.

While causes of increased absenteeism during the COVID-19 pandemic were clearer due to health precautions and family challenges, the increased current rates lack straightforward explanations, said school administrators.

One potential factor is a changed approach to illness. Prior to the pandemic, most students would only be kept home from school with more severe symptoms such as high fever or vomiting. Now, students with more mild symptoms like a cough may be kept home, Trebilcock said.

“There’s a cultural thing now where, if you’re not feeling well, there’s this mindset of you shouldn’t come to school, or you shouldn’t go to work, because you’re going to spread illness around,” she said.

Another post-pandemic shift could be changing attitudes toward the importance of in-person attendance, said Dolloff.

“I think through COVID, we all became accustomed to participating remotely or simply not participating and getting caught up later, and that’s this culture that we’re existing in now,” said Dolloff, who said that Yarmouth schools have also had more staff call out from more days of work than before the pandemic.

“I think that that environment has created sort of a belief among families and school children that showing up isn’t as important as it once was,” he said.

Schools are taking steps to boost consistent attendance. At SAD 51, administrators recognize good attendance at assemblies, regularly remind parents to check their child’s attendance rate, and frequently review student attendance at the district level and by individual student as needed, said Trebilcock. If a student has a specific issue impacting their attendance, schools aim to find them the necessary supports, she said.

Dolloff noted that while the ideal amount of chronic absenteeism is none, a more realistic target is a rate of 5%. Alongside policy reviews, Yarmouth schools are also considering how to improve students’ motivation to attend school in order to increase attendance.

“I think the challenge for schools, and this is a good one, is that we need to make school an inviting and attractive place for students to be,” said Dolloff. “You do that through engaging lesson planning and relevant curriculum and so that’s our approach.

“I think it’s a cultural shift and I think we are challenged to make schools a place that kids … see the value of and want to come to,” he said.