School Absences Down 18.5 Percent In Toms River Regional To Start Year

TOMS RIVER, NJ — As the 2023-24 school year opened, school districts across New Jersey have been focused on improving attendance as part of efforts to help students improve in reading and math.

In the Toms River Regional District the theme for the school year is "Showing Up For Success," emphasizing that students need to be in school to learn the skills in math and reading. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, school absences were cited by state education officials as part of why reading and math proficiency test scores suffered so greatly, NJ.com reported.

"It’s walking through those doors, in fact, that proves to be the most essential element of every school day, something backed by data but known inherently to all educators," Superintendent Michael Citta wrote in his letter welcoming families for the new school year.

The attendance initiative is taking different forms in different schools in the district, spokesman Michael Kenny said, with the goal of changing the culture. So instead of short-term rewards for being in class each day, there are programs to emphasize sustained efforts.

The initial results have been significant: absences were reduced 18.5 percent in September compared with September 2022, with 2,776 fewer absences across the 14,599-student district. That includes 812 fewer absences at the high school level.

Overall, district attendance is over 95 percent so far, with all elementary school grades at a more than 96 percent attendance rate for September, and intermediate schools at 95 percent.

The improved attendance also has had a secondary positive effect, Citta said at the Board of Education meeting on Sept. 20: referrals for disciplinary issues are down 12 percent across the district.

For sixth through 12th grades, discipline referrals were down 18.1 percent as of Friday, Kenny said.

"Making our schools your second home where you’re invited in to be part of this community and part of this venture is going to pay dividends," Citta said.

The district highlighted a program at Toms River Intermediate North that awards a trophy called "The Beast" to the classroom that has the highest attendance for the month, which is just part of the effort at that school. There are incentives for students individually as well, with access to the school's new Mentor Room for fun activities.

"There's a renewed energy in the building," Kenny wrote in the district's article.

"Education is not a one-way street; it requires us to meet one another halfway," Citta wrote in the back-t0-school letter. "When students, for their part, are here each and every day to take advantage of what this district has to offer, the results are nothing short of miraculous."