When a student misses class due to illness or a family event, it’s usually not seen as a big deal – because life happens.
But when they miss ten percent of the school year, that’s a problem. At that point they’re deemed chronically absent.
And when it comes to students that are chronically absent, Roaring Fork Schools Superintendent Anna Cole said at a recent school board meeting: “We’re not where we want to be on those metrics.”
Reigning in chronic absenteeism is the top priority among the district’s strategic plan initiatives. Cole said the district is also focused on a second priority: A new daily lesson framework aimed at better supporting students with special needs, which Cole described as “a huge rollout.”
“It’s a big project,” Cole told Roaring Fork School District board members at an Aug. 26 meeting. “It impacts every classroom in our district, every school. It’s a key component of strengthening cognitive engagement for all our kids.”
‘A pretty robust process’
While the district is focused on addressing chronic absenteeism, it’s worth noting that Roaring Fork Schools’ absentee rates are better than most others across the state.
Attendance data for the 2025-2026 school year released by the Colorado Department of Education last week shows that truancy and chronic absenteeism at Roaring Fork Schools dropped more than one percent compared to the prior school year, to 24.7%. That’s better than the state average of 27.5%.
But still, Cole thinks the district can do better.
“We have a pretty robust attendance plan, but the lived experience of our kids and our families and our schools have identified areas where we can be stronger in terms of communication and support,” she told board members.
Chronic absenteeism has grown nationally since the COVID-19 pandemic and is more common in communities with low-income students and families.
Some researchers also report that absenteeism among Latino children has also risen sharply over fears of ICE enforcement and deportation.
The Colorado education attendance report shows that last school year, the chronic absenteeism rate for Latino students was at 37.2%. For white students, it was 20.4%.
“Gaps between the racial/ethnic groups remain wide,” the department acknowledged in a press release.
Cole said district staff are in the early stages of putting together a plan to address chronic absenteeism. The superintendent said plans will involve studying attendance policies at other districts and partnering with the district’s Equity Advisory Council, a group made up of students, parents and community members who offer input on district policy.
“This will be a pretty robust process to dig into our plans,” Cole said, adding that she plans to present a revised attendance policy to the board come spring.
Supporting students often left behind
While the district contemplates a new plan to address chronic absenteeism, it's already implementing a plan for its second priority, one that’s been in the works for the past couple of years.
The campaign, “Rigorous Learning for All,” focuses on the needs of students with disabilities, Latino students and English language learners. It involves a daily lesson curriculum that’s “high-quality, rigorous and culturally relevant,” according to Roaring Fork Schools’ website.
Cole told board members that the new curriculum is focused “across every classroom, every day, every grade level and content area.”
Teachers will play a big role in the new initiative, tasked with strengthening observation, feedback and coaching skills involving special needs students.
To help teachers with this new undertaking, the district instituted a monthly early school release day for teachers, dedicated to implementing daily lesson plans.
“The readiness of our teachers is as diverse as our kids,” Cole said. “We have teachers who have tons of experience working with these kids. We have new teachers who may need more support.”
Cole said that even though the plan is focused on specific groups of students, all students will benefit.
“We know if we are meeting the needs of those populations, we’ll be employing strategies that help all kids access grade level content and grade level standards,” she said.
