Millions of children continue to miss school. Could the solution be recess and a little cash?

MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste missed so much school that he had to repeat his freshman year at Medford High School near Boston. At school, “you do the same thing every day,” said Jean-Baptiste, who missed 30 days his first year. “It’s very frustrating.”

Then her principal did something almost unprecedented: she allowed students to play organized sports during lunch, as long as they attended all their classes. In other words, she gave high school students recess.

“That gave me something to be happy about,” said Jean-Baptiste, 16. The following year, he cut his absences in half. Schoolwide, the share of chronically absent students dropped from 35% in March 2023 to 23% in March 2024, one of the steepest declines among Massachusetts high schools.

Years after COVID-19 upended the American school system, nearly every state is still struggling with attendance issues, according to data collected by The Associated Press and Stanford University economist Thomas Dee.

During the 2022-23 school year, about one in four students was chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year. That’s about 12 million children in the 42 states and Washington, D.C., where data is available.

Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed that much school.

Society may have largely turned the page on COVID, but schools say they are still struggling with the effects of school closures due to the pandemic. After a year at home, school has become overwhelming, boring or socially stressful for many children. More than ever, kids and parents are deciding it’s okay to stay home, making it even harder to catch up.

In all but one state, Arkansas, absenteeism rates remain higher than before the pandemic. Yet the problem appears to be past its peak: Nearly every state saw absenteeism improve at least slightly from 2021-22 to 2022-23.

Schools are working to identify students who are missing school and providing them with support. They are working to fill communication gaps with parents, who are often unaware that their child is missing so much school or why.

So far, the solutions that seem effective are simple: for example, postcards sent to parents comparing their child’s attendance with that of his or her peers. But to make further progress, schools must be creative in meeting the needs of their students, experts say.

In Oakland, California, chronic absenteeism has skyrocketed from 29% before the pandemic to 53% in 2022-23 in district and charter schools. Officials asked students what would convince them to come to class.

Money, they replied, and a mentor.

A grant-funded program launched in spring 2023 paid 45 students $50 per week for perfect attendance. Students also checked in daily with a designated adult and completed weekly mental health assessments.

Paying students is not a permanent or sustainable solution, said Zaia Vera, the district’s social-emotional learning manager.

But many absent students didn’t have stable housing or were helping their families. “Money is what got them in,” Vera said.

More than 60 percent of students improved their attendance after participating in the school, Vera said. The program is expected to continue, along with districtwide efforts to create a sense of belonging. Oakland’s African American Male Achievement Project, for example, pairs black students with black teachers who provide them with support.

Children who identify with their educators are more likely to attend school, said Michael Gottfried, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In a study conducted by Gottfried, California students felt it was important for them to “meet someone who looks like them at the beginning of the day,” he said.

A caring teacher made all the difference for Golden Tachiquin, 18, who graduated from Skyline High School in Oakland this spring. When she started 10th grade after a remote first year, she felt lost and anxious. She later realized those feelings were causing the nausea and dizziness that made her sick at home. She was absent at least 25 days that year.

But she befriended an Afro-Latina teacher who understood her culture and made Tachiquin, a bright student, feel that her poor attendance did not define her.

“I wasn’t afraid to go to his class,” Tachiquin said.

Another teacher had the opposite effect. “She was like, ‘Wow, guess who decided to come today?’” Tachiquin recalls. “I started skipping her classes even more.”

In Massachusetts, Medford High School requires administrators to greet and speak with students every morning, especially those who have a history of missing school.

But the lunchtime gym sessions have been the biggest driver of attendance, said Principal Marta Cabral. High school students need freedom and the chance to move their bodies, she said. “They’re here seven hours a day. They should have a little fun.”

Chronically absent students are at higher risk of illiteracy and dropping out of school. They also miss out on meals, counseling and socialization offered at school.

Many of the reasons children missed school at the start of the pandemic are still relevant today: financial hardship, transportation issues, minor illnesses and mental health concerns.

In Alaska, 45 percent of students missed important classes last year. In Amy Lloyd’s high school classroom in Juneau, some families now consider attendance optional. Last term, several of her English students missed school for the holidays.

“I don’t really know how to reset the expectations that were shattered when we were sitting in front of the computer that year,” Lloyd said.

Emotional and behavioral problems also keep children from attending school. A study shared exclusively with the AP found that absenteeism and poor mental health are “interconnected,” said Morgan Polikoff, a professor at the University of Southern California.

For example, in the USC study, nearly a quarter of chronically absent children had high levels of emotional or behavioral problems, according to a parent questionnaire, compared with only 7 percent of children with good attendance. Emotional symptoms in adolescent girls were particularly linked to school absence.

When chronic absenteeism spiked to about 50% in Fresno, California, officials realized they needed to address pandemic-era attitudes of keeping sick kids home.

“Unless your student has a fever or has vomited in the last 24 hours, you can come to school. That’s what we want,” said Abigail Arii, director of student support services.

Often, said Noreida Perez, who oversees attendance, parents aren’t aware that physical symptoms can indicate mental health issues, such as when a child doesn’t feel able to leave his or her room.

More than a dozen states now allow students to take time off for mental health reasons in the form of excused absences. But staying home can become a vicious cycle, said Hedy Chang of Attendance Works, which works with schools on absenteeism.

“If you continue to stay home instead of going to school, you feel less engaged,” she said. “You fall further behind.”

Changing the culture around sick leave is only part of the problem.

At Fort Miller Middle School in Fresno, where half the students were chronically absent, two reasons kept coming up: dirty laundry and lack of transportation. The school bought a washer and dryer for families to use, as well as a Chevrolet Suburban to pick up students who missed the bus. Overall, Fresno’s chronic absenteeism improved to 35% in 2022-23.

Melinda Gonzalez, 14, missed the school bus about once a week and called for a ride home in a Suburban.

“I don’t have a car, my parents couldn’t take me to school,” Gonzalez said. “Having this transportation made a big difference.”

Becky Bohrer contributed reporting from Juneau, Alaska.