Iowa advisory panel to address chronic school absences

DES MOINES - Roughly 7 percent Iowa students are chronically absent, meaning they miss more than 10 percent of school days.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday announced the formation of a state advisory council to study and make recommendations on addressing chronic absences, particularly among young students.

The advisory council will be composed of 30 education, non-profit, business and state government leaders.

'This is a problem that schools can't solve by themselves,” Branstad said. 'They need the involvement and the support of the entire community.”

Branstad cited a Child and Family Policy Center study that suggests students who are chronically absent are 1.5 times less likely to be proficient in reading. In Iowa, 1 in 4 students cannot read proficiently by the end of third grade.

'We know that too many children, especially children from families with low income, miss too many days of school,” said Jean Kresse, president and CEO of United Way of Story County. 'If left unchecked, this problem will undermine all of our efforts to end intergenerational poverty, close the achievement gaps and reduce high school dropout rates.”

Kresse noted local projects across the state as examples of work already being done in Iowa to reduce chronic absence, including in the Quad Cities and Waterloo.

'We know schools can't do it alone. And we know chronic absence is a solvable problem,” Kresse said. 'Forming the Iowa Chronic Absenteeism Advisory Council is a critical step in that solution.”

The council will meet four times, once a month, starting in August, and will make recommendations to the administration in November.