Valley of the Sun United Way recently launched a billboard campaign to address chronic absenteeism in schools. It’s part of the Supporting Attendance Across Maricopa County initiative.
The Helios Education Foundation and Read on Arizona are also taking part in the project dedicated to understanding why young people miss out on school. Arizona Cardinals player Calais Campbell is featured on the billboards alongside the message: “Attend School Every Day. Be a Champion” in both English and Spanish.
Dawn Gerundo is community development and engagement director with Valley of the Sun United Way.
“In Arizona, we have an issue with chronic absenteeism. Currently about one in every four students, give or take a little, is chronically absent, meaning they're missing more than 10% of the scheduled school year," she said.
The pandemic is attributed as being a factor in changing attendance numbers, along with political and economic insecurities.
“What we know is when children remain chronically absent, we see a decrease in their academic success," Gerundo said.
Gerundo says her group is putting together strategies to prevent students from missing school beyond 10 days.
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