Johnston schools see significantly less chronic absenteeism

By Clara Toot, JCSD Communications Specialist

JOHNSTON, Ia. (May 29, 2025) — As the school year comes to a close, the Johnston Community School District is celebrating significantly lower chronic absenteeism districtwide.

Attendance data shows the number of students who are chronically absent has been cut in half over the past year — from 764 students in the 2023-2024 school year, to 382 students in the current 2024-2025 school year. The Johnston Community School District has an enrollment of about 7,162.

“Raising the level of awareness around attendance has been a very positive effort as evidenced by the latest attendance data,” said Chris Billings, Johnston’s executive director of school leadership. “We appreciate the partnership of our community in this important effort.”

Middle schools go the extra mile

While improvements were made districtwide, Johnston’s two middle schools specifically saw a substantial decrease in chronic absenteeism.

Since last year, the number of Summit Middle School students who are chronically absent has decreased by about 66 percent. The number of Johnston Middle School students who are chronically absent decreased by about 60 percent.

School principals attribute this success to increased parent engagement and efforts by building and district office staff, who have been on the frontlines leading these efforts.

“We recognize the importance of attendance and encourage our students to be present daily, as their active participation is key to their success in our school and beyond,” said Luke Dillon, principal of Johnston Middle School. “We see that our students and families have embraced this message and responded with a 60 percent reduction in chronic absenteeism. As a learning community, we play a crucial role in connecting with every child, helping them find a sense of belonging and connection.”

Summit Middle School Principal Kaniesha Pettaway said her school’s success in attendance is in part due to increased communication with families.

“At Summit, our commitment to improving attendance has shown amazing results,” Pettaway said. “We recognize that accessing instruction is important for all students, which they can only do when they are present in class. Our intentional efforts have focused on ensuring every student attends school and we are proud of the partnerships we have built between our staff and families.”

Before the school year began, all staff members reached out to families of students in their homeroom classes to foster positive connections. Following Iowa attendance laws, Summit has proactively engaged with families as students approached absence thresholds.

New law spurs changes in Johnston

According to the state of Iowa, chronic absenteeism is defined as missing more than 10 percent of school days. In response to Senate File 2435, the state’s newly adopted state attendance legislation, JCSD has made significant changes to its attendance policies and procedures.

A few notable changes adopted in Johnston this school year that contributed to increased student attendance and awareness of chronic absenteeism included:

In-person attendance meetings for chronically absent students
Automated identification of chronically absent students in Infinite Campus, the district’s Student Information System (SIS)
High-profile discussions around the new law

Billings said the district has been primarily able to solve the chronic absenteeism issues at the building or district level by holding in-person meetings with families and creating individualized absenteeism prevention plans.

The Johnston Community School District appreciates the efforts by all families, students and staff to improve attendance this school year. The district will continue to refine its attendance processes in the near future to further decrease the chronic absenteeism rates and foster the best possible learning environment for all students.