As the last days of summer vacation draw to a close, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is raring and ready to start the new academic year with a bold vision to increase attendance and finish reversing learning loss from the pandemic.
Carvalho detailed his strategy to accomplish these goals while delivering an impassioned hour-long “Opening of Schools” address at Disney Concert Hall on Friday. The event also featured a range of student performances, highlighting the fantastic arts programming and immense talent housed within the district.
This academic year, Carvalho seeks to increase average daily attendance by 5 to 10% through growing bus ridership by 50% and expanding the district’s “iAttend” program where staff visit the homes and shelters of chronically absent students.
Absenteeism soared to alarming heights during the pandemic, while students navigated personal hardships and struggled to engage with distance learning. In the 2021 to 2022 academic year almost half of all students were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 9% of the school year.
The district decreased chronic absenteeism by ten percentage points last academic year and seeks to do more this year.
One of the attendance barriers that Carvalho identified is safe passageways to school. Some students may not feel comfortable walking or biking to school, but live too close to campus to currently quality for bus service.
“For students who have real hardships in terms of getting to school, for students who have to cross gang areas or intersections that are dangerous to them … the school bus ought to be a personal tool available to them,” said Carvalho.
LAUSD has one of the largest school bus fleets in the world, but transports just 14% of its student body, Carvalho said. Due to this limited ridership, the district will not need to increase the number of buses or drivers to accommodate Carvalho’s goal of a 50% increase in…
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