Lake County schools see increased absenteeism since pandemic; ‘When you change the dynamic, it changes a mindset’

From students placing a greater reliance on remote learning, to parents’ increased willingness to keep children home from school when symptoms of illness arise, habits that formed when schools closed in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic continue today, according to an  American Enterprise Institute survey quoted by the New York Times.

Some parents in wealthier areas are more willing to take children out of school for a vacation when the cost of travel is less expensive than during holiday breaks, confident they will be able to tackle their missed schoolwork with the help of their school-issued computer, the survey said.

In working-class communities, where children are newly arrived from foreign countries, families are dealing with basic necessities, according to the New York Times report. They have not yet adopted American culture, where education is a prized value.

Across the country, chronic absenteeism was significantly higher in the 2022-2023 school year than it was during the 2018-2019 term — the last full school year before the pandemic began impacting American education.

Lake County schools reflect the national trend, according to a survey of eight local districts.

Chronic absenteeism increased significantly in select Lake County school districts — representing a diverse selection of communities — in the last five school years, with educators citing the pandemic as a cause.

Craig Winkelman, the superintendent of Barrington Community Unit School District 220, said things changed when schools closed because of the pandemic in 2020 and remote learning became the norm. Schools are all in-person now, but some changes remain.

“When you change the dynamic, it changes a mindset,” he said. “Parents learned their children had the ability to learn from home. Their lessons are distributed to them electronically.”

Chronic absenteeism ranged from 1.28 times greater after the 2022-2023 school year than it was after the 2018-2019 term in North Chicago School District 187, to  4.78 times more in Barrington’s District 220, according to information provided by the schools.

Chronic absenteeism was 3.7% in District 220 for the 2018-2019 school year, and increased to 17.7% in the 2022-2023 term.

Of the eight districts surveyed — from Highland Park to Round Lake, and from Barrington to Waukegan — the statistics mirrored the national trend, with absenteeism higher than it was before the pandemic.

Nationally, districts in wealthier areas roughly doubled in the last full school year since the pandemic, while in lower-income areas chronic absenteeism climbed from 19% to 32%, according to a March 30 New York Times story. All absences, whether excused or unexcused, are used to calculate chronic absenteeism.

When Illinois enacted a law allowing students to take five mental health days each year as  excused absences, educators like Mike Lubelfeld, the superintendent of North Shore School District 112 in Highland Park and Highwood, said it added to absenteeism.

Just as parents taking children on vacation during the school year affects absenteeism, he said students in his district are recovering both from the impact of the pandemic and the 2022 Fourth of July parade shooting. Seven people were killed and dozens more wounded. The district has more than 30 mental health professionals to help.

“Mental health is a big issue in Highland Park,” Lubelfeld said. “Not only are we recovering from the pandemic, but Highland Park is still recovering from the mass shooting. There is still fear and PTSD.”

All school officials interviewed for this story said the law allowing five mental health days, which started in 2022, affects chronic absenteeism.

In both North Chicago and Waukegan Community Unit 60 School District 60 — which both provide all students with free breakfast and lunch — chronic absenteeism is the highest of the eight districts surveyed. They were already high before the pandemic.

In Waukegan, pre-pandemic absenteeism was 27.5%, and it was 40% for the 2022-2023 term. North Chicago increased from 40% to 50% during the same period. Oscar Dupuy, the director of academic programs in District 60, said socioeconomic factors are a reason.

“Most of our families are working-class,” Dupuy said. “We are not governed by middle-class values. Parents work for wages, (not salaries) like the middle class. Newcomers struggle to find suitable housing.”

Oscar Hawthorne, District 187’s deputy superintendent, said homelessness is an issue for a number of families, like those of the 125 students who are new to the district this year arriving from other countries.

“They’re dealing with the essentials like clothing, food and shelter,” Hawthorne said. “Affordable housing is less available, and mobility remains a problem. We are doing everything we can to provide them services.”

While Highland Park is primarily an affluent community, Lubelfeld said 22% of the students there are on the federal free lunch program because they come from low-income families. There is a difference in absenteeism in the less-affluent group.

Overall, 5.5% of District 112 students were chronically absent before the pandemic, and the rate climbed to 14% four years later. he said among the students from low-income families, the percentage was 7.6% in the 2018-2019 term, and 23.8% for 2022-2023. It was 39.6% the year before.

“Children have (different) obligations and responsibilities when they are from economically disadvantaged families,” Lubelfeld said.

In Deerfield Public Schools District 109, which borders District 112, chronic absenteeism was 4% for 2018-2019, and 10.7% four years later. In Township High School District 113, which oversees Highland Park and Deerfield high schools, chronic absenteeism was 14% for 2018-2019, and 33% in the 2022-2023 term.

Chronic absenteeism was higher in high schools than in elementary and middle schools in all districts surveyed.

District 113 educates students from Districts 109 and 112. In Districts 60 and 220, the high school rates went from 42.7% to 48.2%, and 4% to 26.8% respectively. An exception was District 187, where it dropped from 63% to 61%.

“Older children get more comfortable than younger children with remote learning. They are more independent and better able to learn on their own,” Winkelman said. “They still miss what they learn from discussions with their classmates,” he added, referring to the benefits of in-person school rather than remote learning.

Both Round Lake Community Unit School District 116 and Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 showed similar trends, according to information provided by the districts.

In Round Lake, chronic absenteeism went from 18% for the 2018-2019 school year to 33% for the 2022-2023 term. In Lake Zurich, the number of students chronically absent climbed from 10% to 19% for the same period.