By Lane Smith
Rockbridge County High School is trying new ways to decrease absenteeism in the wake of low attendance rates that have persisted since the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the 2018-19 school year, the RCHS chronic absenteeism rate was 9%, according to the Virginia Department of Education. The rate went up to 36.07% in 2021-2022 and then 36.6% in 2022-23. It improved to 31.3 % in 2023-24, and last year, the rate was 22.8%.
But the high school’s absenteeism rates have never gotten back to pre-pandemic levels. Since then, chronic absenteeism – defined by students missing more than 10% of the school year – has remained high.
Now, school officials are creating incentives such as a March Madness tournament and a prize driven attendance competition to try to address the problem.
Perspectives on absenteeism
Jessika Crance, a special education teacher who advises the student council association, said motivation appears to be part of the issue.
“It just seems like kids don’t really care if they’re at school anymore,” said Crance, who has worked at RCHS for 14 years. “So, we’re just trying to look at fun ways to make them want to be here.”
Rockbridge County High School students are allowed a maximum of 16 absences for a full-year class and eight for a semester-long class, according to the school’s attendance policy.
Assistant Superintendent Tim Martino said once a student has five absences, the school will send a letter home to their parents.
Overall, the Rockbridge County Public School system – which includes RCHS, Maury River Middle School, Natural Bridge Elementary School, Fairfield Elementary School, Central Elementary School, and Mountain View Elementary School – had hoped to increase attendance rates by 5% each year following the pandemic.
Martino said some schools such as Maury River Middle School have done so. The middle school’s chronic absenteeism rates decreased from 23.2% in 2022 to 9.9% in 25.
During the 2024-25 school year, chronic absenteeism in Virginia was 14.8% according to the Virginia Department of Education.
Incentives to encourage attendance
But the problem has been more persistent at RCHS.
“It’s something that is not going to be fixed overnight,” Martino said. “It’s a constant process and what we’re really working on is keep making our classrooms engaging so kids want to come.”
Teachers and administrators have created initiatives to encourage students to attend school. Crance, along with attendance coordinator Bridget Ramsey and assistant principal Dalton Ragland, are spearheading two different programs.
Ragland started a March Madness Tournament for the month. There are two different brackets for first and seventh period classes. Ragland takes attendance every day, and he cumulatively tracks the data for each of the classrooms.
“We wanted to spread the participation as much as we possibly could, and at the same time, emphasize how important it is to be in school,” Ragland said. “Not only at the beginning of the day, but all the way through the end of the day.”
A class wins if they have higher attendance, but it is not simply one-and-done. There is a second opportunity to win to maintain engagement.
Ragland said there are ten rounds, and the two winning classes will receive pizza parties following the championship rounds on the last day of March. He said students have been excited about the tournament so far.
“I’ve heard from a lot of different classes, a lot of different teachers that their kids very engaged,” Ragland said. “They look forward to seeing updates as they roll out and it kind of creates a little friendly competition within the school building.”
Ramsey is in her second year as attendance coordinator. She takes phone calls and coordinates attendance matters. Students are very receptive to her, according to Martino.
Crance, Ramsey and Ragland also started the Strive for Five initiative a few weeks ago. Crance said they wanted to start with a small five-day plan encouraging students to be in class, on time, for five consecutive days.
They use a random generator each week to draw 10 names of students who can choose a prize.
Crance said the school had over 350 students entered after the first week and that the program is expected to continue for the rest of the semester.
Martino said the school-based health centers have also been very helpful with keeping students in school. Rockbridge Area Health Center partners with the schools to provide care for students, teachers and community members.
“Kids in the middle of day can go to the health center and get checked out and know that they are not that sick and that they can stay,” Martino said.
Absenteeism is lower in elementary and middle schools, he said, but they are still addressing the issue. As of the 2024-25 school year, the chronic absenteeism rate for Central was 13%. At Natural Bridge, it was 11.9%, while Mountain View was at 11.8% and Fairfield was at 4.4%.
Central does a raffle where students get to spin a wheel for a prize if they have been there for five consecutive days. Maury River Middle School does announcements, recognizing and encouraging attendance.