LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Saturday morning, Oct. 6, the Little Rock School District faculty members and concerned community members marched through neighborhoods around town.
Their goal was to educate parents about making sure children are not missing too much class. These marches consisted of school staff and volunteers who all say they know what can happen when students miss too much school.
“Actually, did this a couple of times around different types of communities,” Phi Beta Sigma volunteer Javaré Simmons said.
Simmons woke up early and met students and faculty at David O Dodd Elementary.
“My grandma kind of helped me see my way through, and I just kind of wanted to give back,” Simmons said.
Little Rock schools are taking a ‘feet to the street’ approach to educating parents about chronic absenteeism.
Superintendent Mike Poore said it’s an ongoing issue.
“It’s low hanging fruit for us to work with parents to get kids on time at school, not having them leave early," said Poore, "and having them be healthy so that they’re in school, you know really, every day that we have.”
They went door-to-door and gave residents literature about the issue.
Missing two days every month for a year is all it takes to be chronically absent.
“Everyone says, well two days that’s not that bad. But two days, two days, two days—that all adds up into a problem,” Poore said.
Educators notice problems when students miss just one lesson.
“Math instruction for example, builds each day that teacher is instructing," said Melinda Modica, David O. Dodd Principal. "So if they miss out they may miss a chunk of valuable information and the teacher has to go back and re-teach that skill.”
The Little Rock School District began pushing the message about attendance in September.