New Legislation Would Hold Wisconsin Students Back a Grade if They Miss More Than 30 Days of School
Thursday, February 1st, 2024 -- 12:00 PM
(Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin students who miss 30 or more days of school could be held back a grade, under a new proposal.
According to Corrinne Hess with Wisconsin Public Radio, if the legislation is approved, beginning in the 2025-26 school year, public school students and students at private schools that receive state money who miss a month or more of class would not advance to the next grade.
Currently, state law requires school boards to have policies stating what conditions a student must meet to be promoted from third to fourth grade, fourth to fifth grade and eight to ninth grade.
The bill, and five other truancy-related proposals, are the result of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’s Task Force on Truancy. If passed by the Legislature, the legislation would need approval from Gov. Tony Evers.
The state’s attendance rate reached a new low of 91 percent in the 2021-22 school year and nearly a quarter of students missed at least a month of school, according to data from the state Department of Public Instruction.
New truancy data won’t be released until March 2024. Representatives Amy Binsfeld, R-Sheboygan, and Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee, who chaired the truancy task force, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Research shows that missing many days of school impedes a student’s chances of passing a particular grade or earning a high school diploma. Wisconsin’s problem with chronic absenteeism is not unique. Since the pandemic, students all over the country have struggled to make it to school, and educators are trying to figure out what to do about it.
DPI spokesperson Abigail Swetz said holding students back for absenteeism has been shown to be ineffective academically, would likely impact students of color disproportionately, and may even have the perverse effect of increasing the dropout rate.
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