The Long-Term Effects of Missing School

In this episode of OK State of Mind, a Family & Children’s Services podcast, Stephanie Andrews, Executive Director of Student and Family Support Services at Tulsa Public Schools, and Faith Crittenden, Vice President of School-Based Programs at FCS, break down the far-reaching effects of chronic absenteeism. From falling behind academically to feeling disconnected from peers, missing school goes far beyond a few lost lessons.

Together, Stephanie and Faith explore how cultural norms, post-COVID mindsets, and family barriers contribute to student absences — and why early attendance habits set the stage for long-term educational and emotional success. They share insights that help parents and schools work together to keep kids engaged, present, and supported.

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Transcript

Stephanie Andrews: [00:00:00] I grew up in a small town, right? Mm-hmm. Like I'm, I grew up in a small town and I mean, we did not miss school. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right? Unless, I don't know, like I think my mom embarrassingly like gave me Tylenol and sent me to school. Yeah. From what I've noticed is it seems like our parents are. Being careful and cautious.

Yeah. And keeping them home. 

Chris Posey: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: But to the detriment of like, way more days than, you know what I mean? Yeah. Is necessary. I know 

Faith Crittenden: some of the families that we work with that may not be part of their cultural norm mm-hmm. Or they may not understand the importance of attendance mm-hmm. And how it plays a role in their kids' academics.

So the education around that is really important. To help shift that mindset. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. Research suggests that children who are chronically absent for multiple years between preschool and second grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the third grade. Chronic absenteeism has also been shown to make students four times more likely to not graduate from high school.

According to the US Department of Education, [00:01:00] 20 states in the US reported that more than 30% of their students missed at least three weeks of school in 20 22, 23. It's an important issue with significant consequences, and it can be particularly pervasive as students move through educational transitions in their school careers.

I'm Chris Posey, director of Marketing Communications at Family and Children's Services, and your podcast host. And today I'll be speaking with Stephanie Andrews, executive Director of Student and Family Support Services at Tulsa Public Schools and Faith Crittenden, vice President of School-based Programs at FCS about the causes, consequences and solutions to chronic absenteeism here on okay, state of mind, a podcast of family and children's services.

And with that, let's get started with our conversation today. But before we do, we'll, you two take a moment just to introduce yourselves and let us know what you do, where you're at, that sort of [00:02:00] thing. 

Stephanie Andrews: My name is Stephanie Andreas. I am the Executive director of the Office of Student and Family Support Services for Tulsa Public Schools.

I always tell everybody we have the best office of all the offices in DPS, but so we are an office that does exactly what you would think. We support students' health, wellness behavioral needs, McKenney, bento students discipline, parent concerns, like you just keep thinking of all the things.

That's us. Yeah. Yep. 

Speaker 4: Alright, well thanks. Yeah, 

Faith Crittenden: and I'm Faith Crittendon. I'm the Vice President of Children's Mental Health here at Family and Children's and we have multiple programs and one of our programs is school-based, which we get to work with Stephanie and her team quite often. 

Speaker 4: Alright, sounds good.

Well, we've already talked in the introduction a little bit about this important time of year where kids are heading back to school right now and a lot of kids are going through a lot of transitions right now. And transitions can be exciting. And they can also be stressful. And that stress can sometimes [00:03:00] cause people to decide, I'm not gonna make it to class today.

And so that's really what we're gonna be focusing on today, is the idea of, of chronic absenteeism with regard to school transitions. But before we get started, let's just lay a little groundwork. Let's, let's lay a foundation. What is chronic absenteeism? What does that mean? 

Stephanie Andrews: Oh, there's fancy definitions I think, but for me, I always think about it like this.

So I always call it sort of the 10% rule. 

Chris Posey: Okay. 

Stephanie Andrews: Which means let's pretend we've been in school 180 days. If you've missed more than 10%. You are considered chronically absent uhhuh. And that's why I said it's kind of tricky, right? Yeah. Because, but that, and that's really what we're talking about. 

Speaker 4: All right?

And so with chronic absenteeism there, there's the obvious the obvious impact, academic impact, because students are literally missing. Class. Mm-hmm. They're missing, you know, things that they need to be learned, but I suspect chronic [00:04:00] absenteeism goes beyond just, well, I, I missed note taking, or I, I missed a test or whatever.

What are some other effects of chronic absenteeism? 

Stephanie Andrews: I think that I would love to talk about the first one though, as well. Okay. Yes. And the fact that especially when you get into high school in Oklahoma, you actually have to attend class. Mm-hmm. Like a minimum amount, amount of time to get a grade. So I wanna say that I think people forget it's really important.

Chris Posey: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: And when we're talking about absences, it doesn't matter if they're excused or unexcused, that all kind of gets wrapped up into that. 

Speaker 4: That's a great point, right? Mm-hmm. So I wanted to mention 

Stephanie Andrews: that, but then on the other end, I do wanna say that. And faith, you can weigh in, but one of the things that we notice a lot is like, just like us, like when you miss one day of work.

Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie Andrews: It makes it easier. You know what I mean? Yeah. It kind of makes it harder to go back. You keep missing like work and work and work. The same thing is true with school. So when you start to be absent more and more. You do feel disconnected from that school community. You feel disconnected from your friends, right?

Mm-hmm. You're so behind on your [00:05:00] academics that it's hard to get caught up. So I, it definitely has a ripple effect when it comes to not just your grades mm-hmm. But in like your social relationships, which can then trigger things like anxiety, you know what I mean? Yeah. Trigger those other things. Yeah.

Speaker 4: Faith you run in, run into this at all the anxiety and the disconnect. 

Faith Crittenden: Absolutely. And I think we do. I, I think it's great that Stephanie called out the, it doesn't matter if it's excused. Yes. Or unexcused. There's a misnomer around that. Mm-hmm. Parents think that missing school for a doctor's appointment is an excused absence.

And really an absence is an absence. Mm-hmm. And so kids really, if they have a lot of. You know, when they're chronically gone, there's developmental milestones that they miss academically and socially and emotionally, and all of that combined can create a ball of anxiety, which just kind of persist and you know.

Becomes, becomes a greater issue if we don't take care of it beforehand. And I know we see, and I think Stephanie can kind of speak to this, is that if between kindergarten and second grade, if we're not kind of addressing those issues by the time kids get to third [00:06:00] grade it, it can really become a really significant issue that also has a larger trajectory for when they're gonna graduate high school.

So it's a big deal. We need to head it off. Early on in their school life versus, you know, waiting till they're in high school or older mm-hmm. To kind of address. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. And not to oversimplify, but I assume the, the more students miss, the tougher it is to, to to, to turn the bus around, to get back on track.

Stephanie Andrews: Oh, there's, there's a big correlation. Mm-hmm. And like you said, I think it's really important. I used to be, long time ago a kindergarten teacher. Mm-hmm. And so. I imagine. Right. And I even remember being a kindergarten teacher, it's easy to think it's only kindergarten. Mm-hmm. It is literally only pre-K, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Like, it doesn't, it's okay if we take off and go to the zoo or whatever. Right? Right. But it's really important. I don't think they realize how much content is covered when we miss. Mm-hmm. But not just that, it is that routine, right? Mm-hmm. It's that routine of being there and knowing what to [00:07:00] do.

So it also affects like our behavior, right? Mm-hmm. Like so if you've been outta school a long time and you're only four. And you come back, it, there's a big adjustment again every time. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: Which is, is stressful for the kid and the, and the family. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. I taught, I used to teach high school many years ago and I remember running into similar situations on the other end of the spectrum.

Even if I had students that I knew were academically responsible. But if they missed so many classes, there was just a disconnect between me. Mm-hmm. And that student, I mean, I just didn't interact with them as much. And you know, it's just unfortunate because I felt like that was just a, that's not only an important part of.

Their lives. But you know, it was an important part of my life too, is their teachers. So I liked, I liked having them there and having 'em there consistently. Why are people chronically absent? What are some of the causes of it? 

Stephanie Andrews: Oh, there's so many. Mm-hmm. And I [00:08:00] mean, it can be anything from a parent illness.

Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. A 

Stephanie Andrews: lot of times I think that people think it's actually a student illness, but a lot of the time. Is a parent illness, right? Yeah. They're having difficulty getting their student to school because of their own, right, like personal parent needs. A lot of the time though, I would say a big barrier is transportation.

Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie Andrews: And you're like, how can that be? We have school buses, right? 

Speaker 5: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: There's specific parameters around like where the bus can pick up and all of those things. And one of the challenging things in Tulsa is, is just finding transportation right in, in, in Tulsa. Mm-hmm. It is, it is often challenging for our families.

Mm-hmm. So I think that's a big one. Another one is students that are experiencing like a displacement from their homes or homelessness. Mm-hmm. And so not having a home, can you imagine? Yeah. Is a huge barrier to attendance, right? Mm-hmm. Those are some of our most vulnerable students. Their parents are experiencing a pretty, you know, difficult time in their life.

They don't have a house, and getting to school [00:09:00] often is not right, like starts to fall off that list. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. What happens as far as the transportation situation goes with unhoused kids? How is that addressed? How is that handled? 

Stephanie Andrews: And you know, if they will reach out to our office. If parents and families, we really do have a plan and we can help you.

We have transportation available for those very people, but I think parents don't know. Mm-hmm. That's what I was gonna say, right? Mm-hmm. I think they don't realize that we are gonna hop in and help them if we know about it. And what often happens is we just don't know. Right? Yeah. Like we don't know why they're absent.

Yeah. Right. And we don't know what's going on. We actually have lots of availability for transportation for students who are experiencing mm-hmm. Displacement in homelessness. 

Speaker 4: I suspect there's a little bit of hesitation there on the part of students who are in that situation. They may not want to offer that piece of information readily.

Faith Crittenden: Yeah. Well, and I think some of the schools can get, they get real creative about how to get kids. To the buildings. Mm. Mm-hmm. Like I know there's been the walking school bus where parents get together and they walk [00:10:00] together. Oh. To school. So there are always, sometimes the parents just reach out and ask.

There are creative ways schools. Will engage in to get kids in schools 'cause that they want them there. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. When I was in junior high, I walked to school and, you know, it was a long, long time ago and you and I did have to walk uphill both ways in the snow. But I mean, I know back then there were, there were environmental.

Mm-hmm. Conditions, you know, here in Oklahoma. I mean, it gets pretty cold in the wintertime. And, and you mentioned the, the, the 

Faith Crittenden: walking school bus. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, 

Speaker 4: I'm guessing walkers are some that do face particular challenges in making, especially making it to first hour. 

Stephanie Andrews: Yeah. Your high school. Yeah. Yeah.

The high school mind on you. But yeah. I would say that our attendance, you are correct when you're measuring attendance. That's a, you know, that is one of the time periods where we do have difficulty, especially around inclement weather. 

Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We 

Stephanie Andrews: have pretty low [00:11:00] numbers. When it's.

Below, like very, very cold. And as you know, Oklahoma is fun. It's all the weather. Yeah. Or raining really hard Yeah. Or anything like that. So those affect our attendance as well. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. Are we still experiencing attendance issues from COVID? 

Stephanie Andrews: Ooh. I would say 

Speaker 4: like, has the perception changed Right.

Of attendance since COVID? Because during that time it was very, it was quite a bit different. It was very non-standard. And I'm wondering if there are lingering effects from that. 

Stephanie Andrews: I don't know if I could say there's like research, right. That I could say. Mm-hmm. But anecdotally, I think that in talking to schools or us just being a part of schools, we do often hear from parents.

They're like, well, we can just do the work virtually. Mm-hmm. Or we can just get the work online. 

Chris Posey: Yeah. Yes. And 

Stephanie Andrews: so I think that's something that is new that wasn't there mm-hmm. Before COVID. Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. That Well, he can act like, you know, he or she can access the work. [00:12:00] Well, yes, but that's a lot of content, right?

Like that's a lot to just understand. 

Chris Posey: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: The farther we're getting away, I think parents are recognizing the need for we, we need someone to teach them the materials before they can just do it at home. 

Chris Posey: That's right. 

Stephanie Andrews: But I would say that definitely that has played into this idea that. Well, if they can just do the work online, then like they're not really missing school.

Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie Andrews: So I would say that that is a barrier that is post COVID. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. My daughter was taking Spanish in high school. During COVID and I just, I always thought how tough that must be to mm-hmm. To learn a foreign language. Virtually. Virtually. Yeah. That, that, I mean, I know that any class there were challenges, but I really thought, I really felt for her with her Spanish class.

'cause it would be, it would be really tough to do that. You know, as you're talking about this, I think about, and I, I'm not gonna ask anybody's age. I already told you I'm really old. As you were talking about that, it made me think [00:13:00] about the way perceptions of attendance and absenteeism have changed over the years.

You feel like there's a, a, a big difference between people who are students now and their parents, who would be like maybe us. 

Stephanie Andrews: I grew up in a small town, right? Mm-hmm. Like I'm, I grew up in a small town in. I mean, we did not miss school. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right. Unless, I don't know, like I think my mom embarrassingly, like, gave me Tylenol and sent me to school.

Right? Yeah. Yeah. Like I, I think, and my daughters are actually both 20 and 24 and they have some horrible stories about me doing the same thing because I've always worked in schools and I was like, listen, I have to teach today. I have to go to school. You're gonna school. Yeah. Like, we're all gonna school.

I don't know. Here's your Tylenol. Yeah. So I do think though, that after COVID. I do think parents are actually, I know this sounds terrible, so that means that I contaminated people probably with my children and illnesses, right? 

Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. I did too. I do think [00:14:00] parents 

Stephanie Andrews: are a lot more cautious. What I think has happened is what I'm seeing is that parents are like, you know when a, a child is maybe not running a fever, but just as coughing and a runny nose, like when we were younger, we would've had to go to school.

And what I've noticed is it seems like our parents are. Being careful and cautious Yeah. And keeping them home. 

Chris Posey: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: But to the detriment of like, way more days than, you know what I mean? Yeah. Is necessary. Mm-hmm. I also think that like, I don't know why, but I mean, yeah. I was afraid, like of my mother.

Me too. Not going to school. So I'm not sure, you know what I mean? I, I can't really speak to that. I do know that parents keep their children home a lot more. Mm-hmm. For what I would consider. Things like we actually have on our Tulsa public Schools website, this is when you should keep your kid home.

Oh, that's cool. And if you go and it says like, temperature above this, right? Yeah. Like and it doesn't say all like, we live in Oklahoma. Like people are gonna have, have 

Faith Crittenden: allergies. Yeah, yeah, right. Sniffles and stuff. Yeah. So yeah, I think, but to your point, like the culture of the family and what [00:15:00] school means, like the meaningfulness, I think plays a big role in.

How parents push kids to be at school. 'cause I know, I know school's important. Mm-hmm. I work in schools. I was a kindergarten teacher's assistant at Marshall Elementary. I know that attendance is important, so I'm like, that's your job. You're going. But I know some of the families that we work with that may not be part of their cultural norm.

Mm-hmm. Or they may not understand the importance of attendance. Mm-hmm. And how it plays a role in their kids' academics. So the education around that is really important to help shift that mindset. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. And ironically, I think when they return to school, there is another set of problems, this reentry back into the school and faith.

Maybe you all see this in, in your program. Mm-hmm. Especially if someone had been absent, you know, 10 days in a row, 15 days in a row. So we're talking weeks at a time. That day of return has gotta be a little. [00:16:00] Uncomfortable you, do you have anything to, to say about that? Are you seeing that sort of thing out there?

Faith Crittenden: Sure. I know with the, with the families that we're working with, I mean, we are really encouraging them to go to meet the teacher, to go to back to school, to go to the resource fairs. Yeah. That, you know, the schools are holding to get to meet the teacher and talk with the teacher. 'cause the school is the first large, you know, system that families interface with.

So. What can we do to make that a positive experience? That they're there to help and support you to foster your kids' academic growth and success, and how do we get you connected and invested in your school so that it's something that you, you find safe and helpful. Mm-hmm. And connected because. I think that when, like Stephanie, when you were saying that families feel disconnected, then they, you know, that inserts information about that can cause anxiety and can cause some negative narration around their school experience.

Mm-hmm. So what can we do to help them? So we really encourage families, like, get out there, [00:17:00] we'll meet you at the school. Mm-hmm. Like, let's walk around and see your classroom, meet your teacher. Here's where the nurse's office is, here's the closest bathroom. Here's where the cafeteria is. Mm-hmm. And getting them used to some of the rules that may be going on at each site.

Like I know a big rule this year is the state law that passed around cell phones. Yeah. So how are we prepping our kids who have had, you know, phones in their face all summer? To go, well, you know, from bell to bell, you're not allowed to have that cell phone. Mm-hmm. And it's not that the school is being, you know, trying to revoke your ability to connect with your peers or get on whatever platform, it's, they're really obligated to do that.

So let's figure out what the rules are going into this year for your classroom, for the school, for the district, so we can support and help, you know, help foster that healthy transition. Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: Yeah, I would say that another reason for a long-term absence besides summer mm-hmm. Is often students who have had discipline issues, right?

Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. So students who are suspended. 

Chris Posey: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: And so you can [00:18:00] imagine that that also sort of compounds attendance issues. 

Chris Posey: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And 

Stephanie Andrews: that they're often really nervous because they were clearly right, like there was a reason that there was a suspension. Right. So we often, our office has to intervene.

We have a lot of students who are. Their suspension is over, they could have gone back to school. Yeah. 

Speaker 5: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: And they're having difficulty with that transition. So even this summer, over the summer, our office reaches out to students who maybe were, what I would consider, like you said, like more than 10 days suspended at the end of the year reaching out saying, Hey, why don't you just come in and let's talk about what happened.

Yeah. Let's make sure you're gonna go to the right school next year. Let's, you know, start off on the right foot. So that's just another reason I was thinking. We think of this reentry and of course back to school time is anxious for everyone, right? Mm-hmm. Like there's been this huge break. Mm-hmm.

Right? Yeah. Yeah. Even teachers. I told them that secretly I'm glad I'm a 12 month employee 'cause I don't have the, like before the first Yeah. Big break back jitters. Mm-hmm. That happens, right? Like even for educators. Yeah. [00:19:00] So I think that, that's one of the things to just think about is that there's, like, this whole reentry is, is challenging like at the beginning of the school year for a lot of our students, a lot of our teachers and parents.

Chris Posey: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie Andrews: Getting back in that routine. 

Chris Posey: Yeah. It's 

Stephanie Andrews: really is a tricky routine to get back into. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. I think that what you were talking about with people being out and then. If they've been suspended or whatever, and then coming back in and the, the compounded effects that you're referring to have gotta be tough to deal with.

In going back, I'm curious if there are things that could happen at home to help our students. Connect to their schools and also to help the parents feel connected. I know with my kids sometimes I'm like, now what are, what is happening this week? What are some things that, that we can do to improve that connectedness outside of the school building?

Faith Crittenden: Absolutely. And, and I know, 'cause I'm a parent of a, a kiddo going into high school and an elementary student, and I know one of the things that's super helpful is getting connected to [00:20:00] the pages. That the schools have, so I can go in and look at calendars and important dates and get familiar with that.

It also has the handbook in it, so I can read over the handbook and see has a policy changed? Has a procedure changed? Like I know one big shift was uniforms. We did uniforms last year. 

Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. They 

Faith Crittenden: went to no uniforms. Okay. Well that's a big thing and that's something that I need to talk to. You know, I talked to my 10-year-old about who was stoked to not have to do uniforms.

Mm-hmm. And he could go pick out, you know, regular clothes for school that were appropriate. So, you know, we had to have those kind of conversations getting messages from the school. Mm-hmm. As a parent saying. Here's when Meet the teacher is so talking to my kiddo about, we're gonna get to go see who your teacher is and we're gonna walk the building and we're gonna practice, you know, waking up on time.

Mm-hmm. And we're going to talk about what our morning routine is gonna look like as we transition back into school. Mm-hmm. Maybe driving past the school [00:21:00] building to get. Back in the flow of that. 

Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a great idea. 

Faith Crittenden: Yeah. So let's get back on, you know, just a, a biological rhythm 

Speaker 5: mm-hmm. 

Faith Crittenden: For that. And what are the upcoming activities?

He participated in bike club. He was in chess club. So what are. Groups, you know, some different club things that are going on at the site to get your kids invested in, because I think that also creates a level of connectivity mm-hmm. With kids, not only you know, who their teacher is and their friends that are coming back, but also what are you doing outside of, you know, your traditional school day to, to participate in those activities that are meaningful as well.

Yeah, 

Speaker 4: that's a good idea. The biological aspect is, is an interesting one. This is going to have a big impact on their sleep. Mm-hmm. And their eating just, mm-hmm. Just as you mentioned. And I wonder if we just kind of take those things for granted. We're like, ah, you know, it'll be all right. We'll, we're all gonna go to bed, we're all gonna eat dinner, or whatever.

But yeah. When [00:22:00] your schedule has been different for three months, I mean, your body has made that adjustment and you've gotta make that shift. Are there things that parents can do proactively throughout the year? To where they can maintain a connection with the teachers so that if problems do begin to rear their heads, then maybe they can be attacked before they even become a a significant problem.

Stephanie Andrews: For us, we have like apps and like, it's so different. I was just like, as you brought this up, I got to thinking, no wonder my mom had to come to school all the time because they didn't have the stuff. Right? Yeah. Right. Does that make sense? Mm-hmm. But wait a second. So we have talking points for parents that they can sign up.

It's an app for their phone. You can like text just back and forth. It actually even offers translation services on it. Oh wow. If you don't speak our. Like, right. Like it does all of that for you, Uhhuh, which is pretty awesome. We have our power school, right? Like it's just where all the student information is housed.

Parents receive emails, like the email you give us when you sign up in Tulsa Public schools, you'll [00:23:00] start getting automatic emails like your student was absent. They are not passing their classes right. You get automatic updates, all of those things. Mm-hmm. And this year we've adopted, like we have actually sort of a new enrollment system.

It's called School Mint. I keep saying like I've made up the name, I've called it other things like for two days. I'm like, that thing no, it's actually called School Mint. So every parent's having to re-enroll. And I would say like one of the important things is just I making sure we've updated information for you, not just for us to call you about attendance, but for us to call you.

About an, like a medical, like a health reason mm-hmm. Is really important. Obviously email right. So there's a lot of ways that you can get in contact with teachers that they'll respond to you and reply to you. Compared to when I was just thinking about my mom, like she just showed up. Right?

Yeah. Like there just used to be like the show up at school thing. Yeah. So there is actually quite a few venues. Mm-hmm. For information. Yeah. To be given to parents 

Speaker 4: and these days, students or parents can, can [00:24:00] actually watch their students. Progress mm-hmm. Online through, you know mm-hmm.

Platforms that are given s Yeah. Live in real time. You get a take for better or worse, you can see it. Mm-hmm. Can you tell us a little bit about the Attend to Win program at TPS? 

Stephanie Andrews: So, and you guys have been a big part, attend to win. So last year our superintendent, Dr. Johnson really just wanted to launch.

It's really just a positive information sort of campaign related to. These are the positive benefits to coming to school. Mm-hmm. Right? Like these are the positive outcomes. Mm-hmm. So it's really just sort of launched last year, making sure that all of us are invested in this together. And of course it sort of just continues for us to be able to like really let parents know.

And kind of like what you said, I don't know if you know, just missing two days a month. Right. Which doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Yeah, yeah. Like I said, by the time you get to the end of the year, you're actually chronically absent. Oh, wow. And we have to like submit [00:25:00] paperwork, you know what I mean?

Like this is like a chronic absenteeism problem. Mm-hmm. So I think that that was really like trying to get in front of that for parents to know that. And what are the ways, like what do you need from us? Like, I like our office. That's my favorite title. Student Family Support Services, right? Mm-hmm.

What do you, what barriers do you have that you need help with? Yeah. Like that's our responsibility to help you with them. Mm-hmm. If you ask, like I said, we have social workers, we have nurses, we have counselors. We have all kinds of people. Even if it comes to the fact that. Maybe for whatever reason, you're at a school far away, you've had to move.

Well, let us help you get to a school closer, if that's the issue, right? Yeah. A lot of supports and then we have over. If it happens to be you know, like mental health challenge for you or your family, we have over 38 mental health partners in Tulsa public schools. Mm-hmm. Of course family and children services.

That's right. We even have more uhhuh, right? Like there's like so many opportunities for us to support you. I would say that I, you know, that's the thing I would say that I would [00:26:00] encourage parents and families to. To, to check out our website. People answer the phone all the time. 

Speaker 6: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie Andrews: For many reasons that this, so that we can like, help close those barriers.

Mm-hmm. Because I'm not sure, I think that sometimes you maybe mentioned it earlier. There might be a little bit of nervousness or stigma around like notifying school staff around some sort of major change. Mm-hmm. And hopefully they would recognize that if they notify like district folks, like we're sort of removed from that.

Yeah. We can still push in and help support that. 

Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Speaking of the barriers, what are a couple of the barriers that you hear most often and how do you respond to them? What are some, what are just. Two of the biggest ones you all are dealing with and that you have a path for success for? 

Stephanie Andrews: Yeah. I mean it go, I mean, one of them is really transportation, right?

Okay. If you miss the bus, you miss the bus. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I think that that's something that, if that becomes a chronic problem, I can tell you that, my husband works at, you know, one of our high schools, and if that's the thing, they're always missing the bus. Then he's [00:27:00] like, literally, then you need to let us know, like, we're gonna figure that out.

We're gonna talk to transportation. Do we need to run a double route? If this is, if you all live in the same area, like, can you know what, what do we need to do to be able to help you know that? Mm-hmm. But that does seem to be a very big barrier, is like, we missed the bus and our parent already went to work.

Chris Posey: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: Right. Yeah. Is, is that has been Yeah. For you all too, and like with the work you've been doing? 

Faith Crittenden: Yeah. And so some examples of that would be like, we had a kiddo who was afraid to stand at the bus stop by herself because she didn't know her peers. Oh. And she didn't know if it was safe.

Hmm. So we had one of our care coordinators go and stand at the bus stop with her. Mm-hmm. Like a handful of times until she got comfortable. Then she was showing up for the bus on her own. Or kids that don't have an alarm system. Yeah, I was sorry about that. To get them up and out the door. 'cause maybe their parent has to be at work.

Mm-hmm. Before they have to be up and ready for the bus. So is it just an alarm clock? Is it a phone call? Like what is it? Can grandma call you at this point to wake you up? How can we [00:28:00] get you to the bus? Or, you know, we've had issues with stray dogs that kids, you know, don't feel safe hanging out in front of the bus.

Well, we can call the city and say there's stray dogs hanging out at the bus stop when the kids are there and the city will come help. As long as we're having those conversations, we can usually come up with creative solutions and it takes a village. Like the schools can only do so much. We can only do so much, but together, together I think we can do so much more.

Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 4: So it sounds from both of you, what I'm hearing is communicate, communicate, communicate. Mm-hmm. That's, and I can imagine it'd be really tough for younger kids. You know, in high school you miss the bus and you might have a friend who drives and can maybe, you know, pick you up on their way or something like that.

But for, for little kids, I bet that really is a. A tough situation to deal with. Any community resources out there that you all are aware of that you know are, are either set up to [00:29:00] support student attendance, or maybe they indirectly support student attendance? Any other resources out there in the community that you would point people to?

Faith Crittenden: Go ahead. I mean, yeah. So many there. There are so many and I think there's a lot of partnerships that TPS in particular mm-hmm. Engages with that. You know, want to help families, you know, get to school and participate. I think the clubs that come in, mm-hmm. There's also like every school has like a partner that they partner with a company.

I mean, there's just, there's lots of avenues for support and resources. So again, it's just, you know, communicating what a need is. Yeah. And seeing what we can come up with. 

Stephanie Andrews: And I would say if I could encourage parents that maybe you did tell someone, and maybe it was. Like you didn't receive the answer you wanted.

Mm-hmm. But Tulsa felt like, right. I would encourage you to keep asking or, you know what I mean, reach out. Because it could be a very busy day when they said something like, I was not able to get here because of this reason, and you didn't really get anything out of it. Mm-hmm. And I would say [00:30:00] like, don't give up.

Because there's, there are other layers, right? Mm-hmm. For us to be able to help you and would love to help you. And, and I think that sometimes maybe a student, like especially a high school kid I was thinking in particular, might get discouraged. They mentioned this one time that. You know, like, well, I miss a bus.

I don't have any to bring me, but nobody like hopped in to help them. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So that's not because they didn't want to. Right. Like there could be a million things going on. So I would just encourage, like keep asking, we actually do have supports in place and like you said, we have partnerships with many of our outside organizations who keep like our youth serving organizations that support students after school.

Mm-hmm. And then when you think about the opportunities for our young people to be in extracurriculars like we do have. Like plans in place to get you places, if, if mm-hmm. If we just, like you said, if you, if we know about it. Right. Right. We just have to know about it. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. All right. What have we not talked about today that you feel is important to discuss when we're talking about chronic absenteeism and student transitions and things like that?

Well, is there anything [00:31:00] that we haven't touched on yet? 

Stephanie Andrews: Well, I would say Faith brought it up so I'll say it. Please come to school, even though we have a Belle to bell, even though we have a be to be cell phone policy and is a state law, I always tell everybody like we are not in the business of wanting there to be negative interactions with our students all day.

Mm-hmm. So I wanna say that for sure. But yes. You have to put yourself, like you can't have your cell phone out. Right? 

Chris Posey: Right. 

Stephanie Andrews: It's, you really can't. You really can't. You really can't. So I wanna communicate that, but that doesn't mean that I don't, we don't want you at school. 

Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. Right. 

Stephanie Andrews: And we want you to not feel nervous and stressed out.

And parents, we want you to know that you can call our schools and that you can reach your student. Mm-hmm. And that, Brett, does that make sense? So, not that very long ago, I know I'm old, but my oldest daughter, most definitely, she's 24. She could. Their phones were not out at school and she's 20. It wasn't that, that's what I'm trying to say.

It wasn't that long ago. Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 5: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: My 20-year-old definitely was not allowed to have her cell phone at all. Mm-hmm. Until like 10th or 11th grade. Mm-hmm. And like, so she's not that far out of high [00:32:00] school. Yeah. So really what I keep telling everybody is that in like our high school is the only difference is that really you can't have it out in the hallways, right?

Mm-hmm. Like, because. Yeah. They weren't supposed to have it out in class. So moms, if you were texting your kids and they were in class, you weren't supposed to Yeah. Yeah. Because they weren't supposed to be on, you guys weren't supposed to be texting anyways. Yeah. So so it's 

Speaker 4: something important for the parents to keep in mind too.

Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: 'Cause I'm that mom, right? So I want you to know, right? Like they're in college and I have to be careful. I'm like, I life 360 them to make sure that I'm like, oh wait, they're in this big building so I should not be texting them right now. But no, honestly, that is the only difference and. We have like I said, like opportunities for you to, I know it sounds crazy talking points.

You can message the school. You need to change plans for pickup or drop off or any of those things. There is a way. Mm-hmm. I know. Mm-hmm. There's a way to do it. So I, I do wanna say. That we are gonna work with our students and like support them through this bit of a transition. Shouldn't be so [00:33:00] big for elementary school.

But I think for some of our high schools wanna say that. And then also just wanna tell parents if you didn't get the whole like, sign put up in front of your house, like this is the first day of school, right? I could never get that accomplished no matter what. And then my kids didn't even want the pictures in middle and high school.

And I was like, no, we're taking the picture. That's 

Chris Posey: right. Yep. 

Stephanie Andrews: We were doing it and now they're in college and they send me, I'm like, oh, stop. I can't even believe that you have the nerve to send me your first day of school pictures in college when I would fight with you in the front yard. Mm-hmm. But I do think that just like you said, kids need to go back to bed.

So do parents We gotta go back to bed. 

Speaker 5: Yeah. 

Stephanie Andrews: We have to get ourselves. Together, we gotta go to the grocery store. Yeah. Right. Because that when we start off our days really negative. It just creates a hard day for our kids. Yeah. So I like to send out a message to all the moms of the world to say, please, please, please do not stress out if you cannot make that cute little chalk sign that says First day kindergarten.

Yes. 

Speaker 5: Yeah, because 

Stephanie Andrews: I could never get to [00:34:00] it. Never could get to it. And you can always 

Faith Crittenden: recreate 

Stephanie Andrews: it. I could. I could like drop it, who would really know. But I do think that parents, it's a, going back to school is hard for parents to do and we have to adjust our routine. Yeah. 

Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie Andrews: Absolutely. So yeah, that's what I would, I would say.

Speaker 4: All right. Yeah. Faith, do you have anything as we conclude here? 

Faith Crittenden: No, I just, I think that parents need to know that the schools really are there to support them. Mm-hmm. They want their kids. Mm-hmm. In the buildings, it's much easier to have them present every day and to figure out the obstacles around that to get kids, you know, there consistently used to the routine.

Know what's predictable, know what's expected. It's just, it's just invaluable. So schools are really there to support, support you. We just have to have those conversations. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. And to that, I think, Stephanie, you made a great statement. You said something along the lines of, of, you didn't say it this way, but of making students miserable.

That's not, that's not why they're there. I mean, right. It's not why they wake up 

Faith Crittenden: every morning to go, Hmm, how can I create some misery today? Right, 

Speaker 4: exactly. And I mean, of course, you [00:35:00] know, rules have to be. Enforced. But, you know, ultimately schools are there to, to support students and, and they're really their families too, by extension.

So and all that stuff just plays right into attendance and avoiding chronic absenteeism. I wanna thank you too for being here today. It's been a real pleasure having you as guests here, and I think this is. Great. Again, very practical information that parents can, can take home with them, so thank you for being here.

Stephanie Andrews: Yeah, thank you.

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