MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Last school year, nearly 45% of students at Middletown City Schools were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of school hours during the year.
That number is higher than the state rate of 27%, according to data.
In an attempt to lower the rate, the district launched a new campaign called "Middie Minutes Matter" in the last week.
"What are the reasons that students are missing school? Are there some simple things that we can do as a school district that would alleviate things right off the bat?" said Middletown City Schools Superintendent Deborah Houser.
Houser said the district has staff whose job is to work with families to break down barriers to getting students to school. They can work to address everything from a bus coming too early to students who need laundry done so they have clean clothes to wear to school, she said.
Making sure families know about this is just one piece of the campaign though.
The district is also getting the community involved to raise awareness about the importance of attendance.
Houser said it's working with community churches, businesses and other organizations, encouraging community members to ask kids about school and encourage them to go to school. Plus, the district is giving students a reason to come to school.
"Each day they have perfect attendance in a classroom, they color in a letter in the word "Middies" and when they get to the end of Middies there's a donut party," Houser said.
Houser said it's too soon to know what kind of impact the campaign is having so far, but she said so far this school year, the chronic absenteeism rate isn't as high.
