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A student reads a book while his classmates, not seen, gather in the corner of the classroom for a presentation at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Almost a quarter of students in San Francisco Unified school district missed 18 or more school days in 2021-22, so far higher than the national average for chronic absence.
Third-grade Spanish bilingual Teacher Mali Pedroza-Chipman teaches her students at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Almost a quarter of students in San Francisco Unified school district missed 18 or more school days in 2021-22, so far higher than the national average for chronic absence.
The sound of children playing and learning filled the halls of César Chávez Elementary School on a recent afternoon, the return to normal apparent in the clusters of unmasked children and teachers huddled on classroom carpets.
But what’s not visible is the lingering devastation from pandemic learning loss, greatly exacerbated for children who missed a significant chunk of school last year, pushing them further behind their peers.
César Chávez, in the city’s Mission neighborhood, had one of the highest chronic absentee rates in the district last year, with 70% of the 449 students missing at least 10% of the 180-day school year, compared to 29% two years earlier.
The absences accumulated in one year at this one school are equivalent to more than 31 years of learning — and possibly much higher because of the way the state and district track absenteeism.
Multiply that across the city, state and country, where chronic absenteeism skyrocketed during the pandemic.
In San Francisco, 29% of the school district’s 50,800 students — or 14,700 children in transitional kindergarten through high school — were chronically absent last year, according to district data, a historically high number. Before the pandemic the rate was 14%.
Yet individual school data obtained and analyzed by The Chronicle illustrates shocking disparities in attendance after schools resumed in-person learning in the fall of 2021.
Malcolm X Elementary, predominantly African American and Pacific Islander and in the Bayview neighborhood, for example, had among the highest rates, with 89% chronically absent. Stevenson Elementary, disproportionately Asian American and in the Sunset, had the lowest at 3%.
SFUSD Superintendent Matt Wayne said in a statement that the district “is committed to providing students and families equitable support to address the high and disparate rates of chronic absenteeism.”
He cited the district’s coordinated care approach as one way the district is addressing absentee rates. The approach offers a range of services, including mental health support, health care and access to community-based programs.
As part of the strategy, staff — such as nurses, social workers and central office support — are assigned to various schools sites. Those teams also support data collection on attendance, said spokeswoman Laura Dudnick. The district also focuses support for LGTBQ students, foster youth, recent immigrants and those whose families are homeless.
While racial gaps in chronic absentee rates existed before the pandemic, they grew into chasms last year, leaving already disadvantaged students even more vulnerable to the academic fallout associated with low attendance.
Research shows more than 80% of children chronically absent in kindergarten read below grade level three years later. Those students are four times more likely to not finish high school and those dropouts are eight times more likely to be incarcerated, according to a 2018 report by Social Innovations and Achievement, which works with schools to improve attendance.
A sign pointing to a perfect attendance board can be seen in the hallway at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Almost a quarter of students in San Francisco Unified school district missed 18 or more school days in 2021-22, so far higher than the national average for chronic absence.
“It’s probably the worst scenario we can imagine for a large population of children, not getting a basic education,” said Carol Kocivar, a former president of the state PTA and an education advocate, of the absentee data. “This is a flashing red light.”
It could take years to recover from the pandemic, said Hedy Chang, founder and CEO of Attendance Works, a national organization focusing on boosting school attendance.
“The divides that existed before the pandemic are widened, deepened, exacerbated,” she said, of rates seen across the country. “We saw more kids in the extreme, like missing 50% or more of school than ever before. That wasn’t even a category we had in our brains.”
Lower vaccination rates in some communities and among various racial groups likely contributed to some of the dramatic differences in chronic absenteeism, but poverty, family mobility as well as other socio-economic factors such as transportation and housing insecurity, which were exacerbated during the pandemic, also played a significant role.
“It’s important to say that Black and Latinx families as a community, we love our kids and we’re also committed to them thriving academically,” said José-Luis Tekun Mejia, strategy director for Coleman Advocates, which supports low-income families and children in San Francisco.
He added that the pandemic dramatically exacerbated issues faced by historically marginalized communities.
“The more we don’t treat this with that sense of urgency, then the higher chances of losing our kids. That data is explicitly clear. Right now is that time to intervene,” he said
Mejia said Coleman Advocates would like to see the district create a success plan for each student, ensuring school staff understand their lives in and out of school.
“I want people to know my kids,” he said. “Many families say they don’t believe the district cares about them. It comes from a place of truth from their personal lived experiences.”
Or that the public education system understands them, said Heaven Anoa’i, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander coordinator with San Francisco schools.
“When the pandemic hit, a lot of our families were impacted,” she said “A lot of grief and loss.”
Add to that ongoing issues within the population, including most parents working two jobs to stay afloat, she said. Also, community violence means some parents want kids to stay home because it’s safer, she said.
In addition, some students don’t want to go to schools where staff might not look like them or understand their culture, she added.
In Oakland, where absentee rates also exploded, the Black community has been “very transient” during the pandemic, said Lakisha Young, co-founder and CEO of Oakland Reach, which advocates for parents.
Families moved around before the pandemic, but the problem — and others challenges as well — are much worse now, she said.
“All of these factors have been grossly amplified in the pandemic,” she said. “Black kids are at the bottom of everything.”
But now, she said, chronic absenteeism is “catastrophically bad.”
Young noted that students thrived, however, in hubs created by her group, demonstrating learning loss during the pandemic — and now — is not a given.
But there are a lot of students who aren’t getting what they need.
She said that families need to fight back against what’s not working and the district needs to focus on students — not the divisive politics around school closures and other issues.
San Francisco, like many districts, will be grappling with the long-term impact of the explosion in chronic absenteeism for years even as officials work to get attendance rates up to pre-pandemic levels.
“This is one of the major topics districts all over the state are discussing and working to address,” said Troy Flint, spokesman for the California School Boards Association.
Flint added that he believes state elected officials will be looking at funding and other ways to help address the issue in the upcoming legislative session. “Given how high of a concern this is, you’ll see multiple approaches to try and address this,” he said.
Back in San Francisco, at César Chávez Elementary, the issue is already a top priority for Principal Lindsay Dowdle.
“I believe this is a live-giving, life-saving resource,” she said. “Education equals opportunity and access, period. Being absent means less access, less education and less connection to the community.”
Last year and this year, staff frequently make calls home to inquire about a student regularly missing class. The message always includes, “We miss your kid,” Dowdle said.
They also help figure out hurdles, looking up bus schedules when the car breaks down, arranging carpools or even buying alarm clocks for students.
The school also is offering field trips and weekly art classes as well as twice-a-week raffles to help motivate kids to show up on Mondays and Fridays, days when students often miss school.
It’s too early in the year to know whether attendance is up and if so, by how much, she said.
“We’re trying to get back to pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible,” she said. “Every minute is precious.”
Jill Tucker and Nami Sumida are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com nami.sumida@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Jilltucker @namisumida
Jill Tucker has covered education in California for 22 years, writing stories that range from issues facing Bay Area school districts to broader national policy debates. Her work has generated changes to state law and spurred political and community action to address local needs.
She is a frequent guest on KQED’s “Newroom” television show and “Forum” radio show. A Bay Area native, Jill earned a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a bachelor’s degree from the UC Santa Barbara. In between, she spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Cape Verde, West Africa.
Nami Sumida is a data visualization developer at The San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining in 2021, she created data-driven graphics for Industry Dive, a business journalism company covering 20+ industries. She also has experience conducting research on journalism and the news media at the Pew Research Center.
Read more about the data team and their work.
