So let's get started with our first of two panels.

The topic is chronic absenteeism, which is defined as missing 10% or more of enrolled school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

And let's quickly introduce our panel.

Go ahead.

Welcome.

-Hi.

I'm Peyton Burtsell.

I go to Liberty High School, and I joined the Council just because it was an opportunity to make change.

-Hi.

I'm Ava Meeks.

I go to West Tech.

I'm in 11th grade, and I joined the Council because I wanted to have a bigger impact to my school.

-I'm Layla Driscoll.

I'm a junior at Rancho High School, and I joined because I wanted to be a voice for my peers.

-Hi.

I'm Jermaine Autry.

I go to Central Technical Training Academy, and I joined just to make a change in our district.

-And I watched you all walk in together, and it made my heart so happy, because I could tell that you genuinely admire and respect each other.

You attend different schools.

There's always rivalries here and there, but you all have-- you're all on the same mission.

And today, we're talking about two very important topics, and we are going to start with chronic absenteeism.

How big of a problem is it that you've noticed at your school?

-It is a bit of a problem because I know people who don't come to school just because they don't want to.

So lack of motivation there.

-I would definitely agree.

But at my school, I would say more like the mental health aspect of it.

A lot of students struggle with that and just don't want to pull up to school.

-We'll talk about mental health in the next panel.

That's also an important topic.

-I think it can be seen as a bigger problem just because I have a bigger population, but it's definitely very noticeable in each class.

-Go ahead.

-I'd say at my school, it's not a problem.

-Really?

-I come from a hybrid school with a small student body, so when a student doesn't show up, it's definitely concerning just for the teachers, counselors, and even students.

But I definitely do think in larger schools, it is a big problem.

-That's really interesting.

I would never think that.

I would think that all the schools have different issues with chronic absenteeism.

And that's, that's good.

That's good to know.

Let's talk about during one of your meetings, you did, they did discuss some of the root causes, the Clark County School District did give you some of, five reasons a student could be chronically absent.

And I will go over them.

One was basic needs not being met; two, childcare; and, three, academic gaps for physical and mental health, which we talked about that; and then sense of belonging.

You were also asked during that meeting to list your own reasons.

What did you list?

-Well, I had a sense of belonging-- a lack of a sense of belonging.

When you don't have connections at school, it does make it harder to find the motivation to come there.

Another one would be a lack of care or motivation in your academics.

Students usually get senioritis halfway, halfway through the year.

-I remember that.

-Definitely.

And another one would be transportation.

-Yes.

-Yes, we do have busses, but they don't-- they do not go everywhere.

And some parents don't have the transportation that their child needs.

-And what are you noticing at your school?

-Basically the same things as him.

A lot of people that I know, their parents both work, so their parents aren't really able to take them.

So they either have to, like, find the bus, which isn't very reliable, or they have to find friends.

Or as well as a lot of people at my school, so like, it's also the lack of care.

They're like, Oh, well.

I'm already behind anyway, so it's not going to make a difference.

-What did you notice at your school?

-Yeah.

Very similar to what they were saying.

But I think particularly for my school, it's the mental health aspect.

Like, we have a ton of academics, and everyone's trying very hard, which is good, but I think sometimes it gets too much and they're like, Well, what if I stay home and don't have to deal with it?

-I definitely agree with the sense of belonging part, because if you're not comfortable at school, you won't want to be there.

-I know having grown up as a first-generation student, I had the responsibility of helping with my younger siblings.

And a lot of students do have that responsibility, where they have to make sure that their younger siblings are ready for school before they go to school.

And there could be so many different other issues at home that maybe a teacher doesn't know the student is going through.

How are you helping your peers at your schools?

Let's go ahead and start.

-I think individually, I like to motivate or try and influence the way if my friends do come to school or not.

Like, Well, I only have this exam, and I already have an A in class, like, Well, you should come because you can have a conversation with me or just find an outside perspective for them.

-How about you?

-Very similar, but I think positivity goes a long way, especially since I was going with the mental health.

Like, just having that open mind and a positive view can sometimes really help.

-For me, I help more when it comes to the lack of care.

Like when people are behind and they don't feel the need to come because they're already behind, like, I can help you catch up or help you with the notes or whatever you missed.

-What about you?

-I definitely agree with that.

I motivate my friends with just a helping hand is all that you need sometimes.

Just someone that you know that cares about your absence at school is all you need to bring you to school for the rest of the week.

-I love what you're doing.

That makes me happy.

And let's also talk, of course, it takes a village, right?

It's not just our teachers and our school administrators and our students.

It's a community effort to make sure that we combat this issue.

And during your meeting, you did hear from an attendance enforcement officer, correct?

How many-- were you at that meeting?

Okay, perfect.

I love it.

All of you, good attendance!

What was the biggest takeaway?

Also, I want to hear some of the tasks or responsibilities that come with that job, because it is a difficult job.

They're going to homes to make home visits, to make sure the students or parents are aware of what's going on.

Did anything surprise you during the presentation?

-Yeah.

I definitely think-- I didn't know what was considered chronic absenteeism.

I didn't know that unexcused and excused absences counted towards it.

-Yeah, neither did I until this.

-Yeah.

-For sure.

And I think, like you were saying, the home visits, I did not know that happened.

I thought that was a cool thing, that they went to check on families.

So that, for sure, surprised me.

-Yeah, thousands of visits that they're doing, which is good.

Again, we are making progress when it comes to chronic absenteeism.

Again, it's not just an issue impacting the Clark County School District, it's nationwide.

So it's good to know that things are being done to make sure that we do curb the problem.

-Going off the home visits, I didn't know that they also would help families who are struggling by bringing them basic supplies.

I didn't know they did that too.

-I would say just the big ratio between, I think it was one officer to 1,500 students, around that.

And that's definitely not enough.

-Yeah.

-It was just the amount of students that they have to deal with is like, the impact that they have definitely decreases.

-Yeah.

I want to say thanks in part to the district and community-wide efforts.

As we mentioned, CCSD does estimate that approximately a 9 percentage point reduction in chronic absenteeism over the last two years.

So that's pretty huge when we think about it.

And, of course, we have to talk about the pandemic had a big impact on what's going on with chronic absenteeism as well.

Now, I do want to ask you, what are some of the suggestions that you touched on already that you gave when it comes to combating chronic absenteeism at your schools, because that's a great thing about your council, right, is that you give your suggestions and your perspective as students who are there in front every single day with the other students.

What were some of the things you suggested?

-There was a recommendation I really liked.

It was when a student communicates with a teacher why they've been absent, especially if they've been gone for a month, that the teacher would give them a little leeway.

Maybe not giving them just 100s on the assignments they missed, but maybe excusing them so it gave them a better opportunity to catch up.

-Love that.

-I think, particularly for my school, like, the workload is a lot.

So having an opportunity for like a study hall or something or where you can ask teachers for extra help could be very beneficial for us.

-I think the opportunity just to bond with your classmates and have some sort of community within your classroom that you know is somewhat of a safe space or have a friend to come to.

-I know on a personal level, you know, not being able to have sometimes, you know, the designer clothes.

Not that you need that to go to school, but it's such an important part of being a student.

And if you're wearing, you know, the same shoes every day, it does impact you.

It does.

It affects you.

And I know with, again, you have Communities in Schools, and there are other organizations that are making sure that these students have basic needs, and that's such an important part of being a student, right?

So any other organizations that you're aware of?

-At my school, I know recently they started making more announcements about it.

They have like, closets with clothes.

Especially, I think on Monday after finals, they made an announcement for people, like, Oh, there's extra jackets if anyone needs them, because they don't have any.

There's been a couple, like, conventions where they have like, like a lot of people come out just to, I think it was for the homeless, to help those people out.

-Again, there's no shame in going and ask for help, right?

And that's so important.

What advice would you give these students who might need help?

-It's not bad to reach out for help.

Sometimes students will think it's humiliating to reach out, but I feel like any reason, any reason is a good reason.

And no one should come after you, or you shouldn't doubt yourself for having someone to help you out.

-And it's not your fault that you're going through this, you know?

It's not, a lot of times, your parents' fault as well.

So it's, yeah, it's important what you're doing.

And this sometimes comes back to being bullied, as well, for these kids.

So what advice would you give these students?

-My advice would probably be to take the first step.

A lot of people in these situations are at a loss, like they don't really know where to start.

So I'd be like, I would say, just try something, anything, because then next thing you know, that could end up helping you out a lot.

-And I think also, going off of that, there's always someone willing to help.

So no matter what, I'm sure you can find.

-I agree.

I think people do have good intentions.

If you do reach out, it's not going to be a negative experience for you.

People do want to help.

-So be on the lookout for these students at your schools, right?

And like, there's-- Mr. Rogers would always say, Look up for the helpers.

You guys are great helpers.

So thank you so much.

Appreciate you guys.

I'm happy.

My heart is happy.

Thank you for what you're doing.