Absenteeism, Mathematical Enrollments Present Questions for Galloway Schools in New Reports

Just one of the Galloway Township School District’s schools met the target goal for Chronic Absenteeism in the School Performance Report released last week by Gov. Chris Christie’s office.

The report issued this week replaces the outdated school report cards, the Christie Administration said. Reports now include data on college and career readiness, and place schools into peer groups.

It also measures college preparedness in different ways, particularly through Chronic Absenteeism and the number of students enrolled in Algebra I at the middle school level.

Students are considered chronically absent when they miss 10 percent of the days in a given school year for any reason. Any school over 6 percent has not met the target set forth by the state. Only Reeds Road Elementary School, at 4 percent, met the target.

Previously, the state measured absences as excused vs. non-excused, which is no longer the case.

The other aspect of college preparedness, not measured at the elementary school level, is number of students enrolled in Algebra I. At the only 19 percent of students take Algebra I. The target set by the state is 20 percent.

“We have Geometry classes available for students in the eighth grade,” Galloway Superintendent of Schools Dr. Annette Giaquinto stated during her presentation to the Galloway Board of Education at the middle school Monday night, April 15. “We believe if Geometry was counted, we would meet the target.”

She also noted Geometry is a higher form of mathematical education than Algebra.

Still, she noted advanced mathematical education would be among the issues discussed moving forward, as would the solution to the issue of absenteeism.

Board Member Suzette Cordero asked if Reeds Road had a different policy pertaining to absences than the other schools.

“We have the same basic procedures at other schools,” Giaquinto said. “Reeds Road sends letters home after every five, 10 and 15 absences, and I’m not aware that any school in the district is not doing that.”

She also said that students who are being home schooled are not considered to be chronically absent, although she was going to double-check that data.

She also plans to do a comparison of how absences impacts students’ grades.

“We have students with parents who work in the casino industry and can’t take vacation during the summer, so they have to do it during the school year,” Giaquinto said. “Then sometimes the child gets sick, and they miss a lot of time, but they still perform well academically.”

“It seems like attendance is an issue that’s going to take a lot of your time administratively to ensure compliance,” Board President Ernest Huggard told Giaquinto.

As it stands, the Chronic Absence rate is 7 percent for the middle school; 7 percent for Arthur Rann Elementary School; 8 percent for Smithville Elementary School; and 7 percent for Roland Rogers Elementary School.

While some of the elementary schools are in the same peer groups, there is not one peer group that features all schools. Arthur Rann and Reeds Road are in the same peer group, and Arthur Rann and Smithville are in the same peer group, but Reeds Road and Smithville are not in the same peer group.

The groups were assembled based on similar grade configurations, students with similar demographic characteristics such as free/reduced lunch eligibility, limited English proficiency or special education program participation.

Board Member John Knorr questioned the groupings, and Giaquinto stated several superintendents throughout the state raised the same questions.

“I don’t believe the state is going to change their methodology,” Giaquinto said.

However, the peer groups will change on an annual basis based on data collected.

The full report for all schools in the state can be found here.