JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville launched a new program Wednesday called “Show Up to Shine” to address the absenteeism issue in Duval County Public Schools.
According to DCPS Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier, Duval County leads the state in the percentage of students who are “habitually truant.”
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The Florida Department of Education says Florida law defines a “habitual truant” as a student aged 6 to 15 who has 15 or more unexcused absences within 90 calendar days -- whether or not their parent or guardian knows about it.
News4JAX found state statistics on FLHealthCHARTS.gov that show that of the state’s seven main metro counties, Duval County had the highest percentage of students who were absent 21 or more days in 2023 with 27.4%. Followed by:
- Polk: 24%
- Orange: 23.7%
- Broward: 21.8%
- Hillsborough: 19.2%
- Miami-Dade: 17.8%
- Palm Beach: 14.7%
Bernier and Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said the “Show Up to Shine” program is a call to action for the entire community to help combat absenteeism.
“If students aren’t in school, they are not going to be well-equipped to read better, to graduate or to have as much success as they can possibly have in life,” Deegan said. “When students are present and engaged it leads to better outcomes for everybody, giving us a more educated and capable future workforce.”
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Deegan explained that the program will include activities and incentives to help address factors that might be affecting a student’s attendance.
Part of that, Deegan said, is increasing understanding of attendance issues within the community.
“You can’t tackle a problem unless you’re aware of it,” Deegan said.
In that vein, Bernier asked the community to help the district find more bus drivers because DCPS is at least 60 drivers short of covering its current routes. He acknowledged that the bus driver shortage is a factor in getting children into their classrooms.
Bernier said the goal of the program is to reduce the percentage of habitually truant students in the district.
He said that will involve:
- Recognizing good and improved attendance (not just perfect attendance)
- Engaging students and families in the importance of daily attendance
- Monitoring attendance data practices (and having a centralized tracking system)
- Personalizing outreach for those missing multiple days in a month.
- Shifting social workers to work with families directly to remove barriers to attendance
“This has to get personal, it has to be inviting and it has to be real,” Bernier said.
Deegan said they will be working with city-funded afterschool programs, the United Way and other community groups to pinpoint and address barriers to attendance.
“We need everybody rowing in this direction, and I know we can make a difference here,” Deegan said. “With your support, we can ensure that our children are not just present in school but are fully engaged and ready to take on the future.”
The rate of chronic absenteeism in Duval County has more than doubled since the pandemic.
Rob Kelly with the non-profit READ USA said community partners are getting involved and businesses near schools will offer incentives to parents and volunteers will make phone calls to keep families engaged.
“Not only to say, ‘Hey, we missed your kid at school today,’ but to say, ‘Hey, your kid came to school every day this week.’ We want that encouragement piece built in there as well,” he said.
Judge Michael Kalil said there’s also a push to establish a model truancy court to serve as a last resort.
"This court would specifically address truancy in a trauma-informed manner, bringing together various service providers and case managers and stakeholders to be able to collaboratively support the families and our children in the community,” Kalil said.
And when it comes to missing a lot of school, the district director of behavioral health said trauma is often a factor, such as poverty or neighborhood crime and it’s a vicious cycle, because when kids are chronically absent, they’re at greater risk of poverty and crime as adults.