DFL, GOP team up on bills to battle absenteeism in Minnesota schools

Minnesota lawmakers this week are moving forward on five bills aimed at addressing chronic absenteeism in Minnesota schools, and DFLers and Republicans are working together on policy solutions.  

More than one in four Minnesota students was chronically absent — missing at least 10 percent of school days because of unexcused absences or suspensions — last school year. 

Chronically absent students tend to do worse academically and are less likely to graduate than kids who attend regularly. At the extremes, it may lead to truancy officers and child protective services intervening. 

Those concerns mushroomed in the COVID-19 pandemic. Chronic absenteeism doubled after Minnesota schools closed buildings and sent kids home at the start of the pandemic in 2020. 

One-third of the state’s students were considered chronically absent in the 2021-22 academic year. While the counts improved last school year, they are still much higher than in 2019 when only 14 percent of Minnesota students were chronically absent. 

State lawmakers have spent months studying why absenteeism is so high and what the legislature can do about it. In testimony, they’ve heard the range of challenges faced by students, each a little different. For some, the barrier is transportation. For others, it’s diabetes flare-ups or grief from a death in the family, or homelessness. 

“There are significant reasons why kids don’t come to school, and many of them are outside of the control of the Legislature, to be very blunt,” said Rep. Ben Bakeberg, R-Jordan, a middle school principal and one of the co-leaders of a statewide student attendance and truancy legislative study group. 

The wide variety of issues contributing to absenteeism is part of what has made addressing the problem so difficult for school leaders and lawmakers. 

Lawmakers tried to get at some of the root causes in the five bills that came to the House Education Policy Committee this week. 

Some are aimed at getting better data. Compared to other states, there’s a big lag in terms of when Minnesota is getting information on absenteeism. 

One bill would require the Minnesota Department of Education to release attendance data in August when the agency puts out state reading and math scores. Another bill calls on schools to share student absenteeism data more regularly with caregivers. 

Lawmakers also want to better define absenteeism so that schools are uniformly reporting data. Right now different schools report absenteeism in different ways, which makes it hard for parents to understand what counts as missing school. It also means that it’s hard to understand where Minnesota is in terms of attendance. 

Other legislation seeks to address data privacy concerns so that school districts, county staff and state agencies can get students and families the help they need to attend school more consistently. And one bill would make the state Education Department responsible for re-enrolling students if those students leave a school district. 

While perfect answers may be elusive, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say it’s an issue that can unite Democrats and Republicans.

“This has been a bipartisan effort from the very beginning,” said Rep. Heather Keeler, DFL-Moorhead, and one of the co-leaders of the attendance and truancy study group.

She and Bakeberg were in lockstep Tuesday presenting the bills in the House Education Policy Committee. The proposals are being laid over so they can be worked on a bit more and then brought back to committee or sent straight to the floor for a vote.

“We agree on this issue, which, you know, frankly, in today’s polarizing times, that doesn’t always happen,” Bakeberg said. “Education is a place where we can find a lot of agreement.”

• 5 international college students in Mankato have records terminated by DHS
• How the Education Department helps students with disabilities get an education
• April storm leads to second day of school delays, e-learning days across Minnesota
• To boost kids’ reading, Minnesota schools start to shift the way they teach