The State Board of Education’s 2019 Illinois Report Card shows historic increases in students taking and succeeding in rigorous college and career preparation courses. But the report also shows challenges for some districts…including Danville School District 118 where four local schools are listed among the lowest performing schools in the state. They are Meade Park, Garfield, Edison, and South View Upper Elementary School.
District 118 gets extra state funding to help address the problem but Superintendent Alicia Geddis notes chronic absenteeism makes it difficult…
{‘’Just look at Edison and Garfield specifically that maybe this money won’t be able to address. As defined by Illinois State Board of Education – Edison – they’re saying 40-percent of the students there are chronically absent. It is hard to educate children when they are not there,’’ said Dr. Geddis. ‘’And then a third of that population is defined as highly mobile. And then in Garfield, they’re saying almost a third of those students aren’t here. They are defined as chronic absenteeism. And for Garfield, their mobility is also almost at a third,’’ noted Superintendent Geddis.}
Associate Superintendent John Hart notes that anytime a student moves out of the local district they are listed as absent until they enroll in another district.
Danville is not alone in dealing with chronic absenteeism and high mobility rates. And the District has been taking steps to address the problem, but as Superintendent Geddis noted Wednesday: ‘’It’s hard to hit a target that isn’t here.’’
