The Superintendent's Blog

One topic that continues to surface in conversations with both parents and community partners is the importance of regular school attendance. Attendance is not a simple issue, and I want to acknowledge up front that families navigate a wide range of circumstances - health needs, family obligations, transportation challenges, and other factors that can make attendance complex and deeply personal. No two situations are alike.

At the same time, the frequency of school attendance is a significant factor influencing student success. Overall, attendance is strong in Millard, and our data indicates this is powerful for students. What I am sharing in this blog comes from facts gathered during our regular, ongoing school improvement processes, and through recent feedback from our community partners.

The first comes from Millard’s Superintendent Business Advisory, which is made up of business leaders and owners throughout the metro. This past fall, we asked them what skills were the most important for students as they prepare for future careers. More than anything else, these local leaders emphasized developing the habit of regular attendance. From their perspective, showing up consistently is a foundational workplace habit - and one that many employers currently find challenging among staff in their organizations. They literally said the key differentiator of success was a person who “shows up.” They were also quick to say this was just as big a benefit for the employee as for the company. The people who showed up advanced faster. Just by coming in regularly, they put themselves on a path for promotions, opportunities, and higher wages. The feedback these business leaders shared was a reminder that reliable attendance is not only about school, but about preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of adult life.

Attendance was also the focus of a recent Superintendent Parent Advisory meeting. We reviewed student achievement data across multiple measures, including the state NSCAS assessment, MAP growth, and the ACT. The effect of being in the classroom was clear. It was actually at the urging of this group that I started writing this blog. To cite their words, it was “shocking” to see the negative impact of missing more than ten days of school.

Here is a sample of some of the data that caught their attention. It comes from the graduating class of 2025. Impressively, students with perfect attendance averaged a 32.5 composite score on the ACT. Students who missed 10 or fewer days of school earned an average composite score of 23.4. In contrast, students missing 10 to 20 days last school year saw their average score drop to 19.7, and for students missing more than 20 days, the average fell further to 17.6. These differences are large enough to influence college readiness, scholarship opportunities, and postsecondary options.

The impact was even more evident in earlier grades. For instance, last year, on the fifth-grade state NSCAS English Language Arts assessment, 60% of students missing 20 or more days scored in the lowest performance category, “developing.” Even for students missing between 10 and 20 days, 50% of students were still classified as developing. In contrast, 76% of students who missed fewer than 10 days demonstrated performance on track with college and career readiness expectations set by the Nebraska Department of Education.

After seeing these numbers, parents urged us to share a summary of this information more widely. They, like us, believe that understanding the impact of missing school underscores the importance of students’ daily attendance decisions. Considering that two advisory groups felt this was valuable information, I wanted to make sure you had access to it.

We also know data doesn’t help with the difficulties life throws at all of us, and the personal challenges families face. There are certainly variables that make regular school attendance for some students and families more challenging than others. If you are a family grappling with a hard situation, please know we have staff in each of our schools available who may be able to help. We want to work with you and be a partner with your family. Nebraska law requires us to take steps to improve student attendance, but more importantly, we do it because we want to help if we can. Our goal is to identify and address any barriers within our reach, not to be intrusive, but because we care deeply about each student and are often able to offer help.

Thank you for your partnership and support as we work together to serve students in Millard. I've been in dozens of our schools since we came back from winter break, and what I see in our classrooms from students and staff is tremendous. We have a wonderful school community doing great work to give the students a competitive advantage as they navigate their education and prepare for life beyond school.