by Jackie Nunnery
LANCASTER—Like the rest of the state, Lancaster County has been struggling with chronic absenteeism in its schools. Superintendent Jessica Davis said at the Monday, July 14, school board meeting that the county has made strides to improve those numbers.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% of the school year, regardless of whether the absences are excused or unexcused. According to Davis, last year the division had an overall rate of 32%—a third of students missed more than 17 days out of the school year. She said this year the rate was down to 24%.
“We hired Larry Willis as our truancy officer and he has been digging a little deeper with families and asking them what the hurdles are and ….
