School districts across the state are still battling a lingering problem that came out of the pandemic chronic absenteeism.

That's when a kid misses 10% or more of the school year.

Statewide data show more students are missing class now than before the COVID 19 pandemic.

This, as National report card scores show, progress is stagnant for New Jersey's kids.

Senior correspondent Joanne Agag s reports on how lawmakers hope to address it.

Chronic absenteeism has surged since the pandemic.

The students are not in school.

If they're chronically absent, they are not.

Learning.

A student is considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of the school year.

That's 18 days out of 180.

It's a challenge many districts are facing.

So legislators in the Senate Education Committee held a hearing yesterday to better understand how to address it.

Common reasons for absences are due to an address.

Chronic health issues, including mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, fear of bullying or violence in the school, the inability to get to school because of transportation issues and loss of interest due in part to unaddressed academic problems, or when the students social, emotional and or behavioral issues aren't being addressed in effectively.

Family struggles such as feeding food or housing insecurity, employment issues.

The problem isn't new.

In 2018, Governor Murphy signed a law requiring districts to publish their chronic absenteeism in school report cards.

And for those that had a rate of 10% or more, develop a corrective action plan.

But six years later and post-COVID, it remains a problem, especially in poor and urban communities.

New Jersey's current 16.6 chronic absenteeism rate is better than most states, but that equates to a lot of missed time for education for our young people.

Students who are chronically absent missed key learnings, making them less likely to read on grade level or experience deficiencies in other core academic areas.

Chronically absent students are less likely to graduate and can experience social disengagement.

But meeting the social and emotional needs of students falls outside of the capacity of many school districts.

One answer kept coming up during the hearing community schools.

So a community school is actually a framework and idea of supporting certain pillars, and that includes student integrated supports, that includes community engaged and.

Leaders at Mercer Street, Friends that operates community schools in Trenton outlined what that actually looks like for their students.

Social emotional learning groups, afterschool in summer enrichment and tutoring programs, counseling, reading, intervention, choice, food pantries in each of our schools and family support services.

The younger students don't choose to not come to school, and so we work from preschool through the elementary schools with the parents directly seek their engagement again in a positive way.

Mercer Street Friends CEO Bernie Flynn pointed out how New Jersey only has a handful of districts with community schools, while surrounding states like Pennsylvania and Maryland have put a major emphasis on them with great success.

Two such bills have been introduced in the legislature but haven't moved forward.

Senate Bill 2243, which would establish a five year community school pilot and Senate Bill 2528, which would create the Office of Community Schools, would create similar opportunities for families of lower socioeconomic statuses.

There was resounding support for this model on both sides of the aisle.

Any district that's experiencing chronic absentee ism should be required to have a program like this in place.

But how you fund it is the question.

School funding couldn't be more uncertain than it is now, and these programs aren't cheap for districts without this model.

Focusing on school climate is critical.

Students are more likely to attend school when they feel supported, valued and connected.

We've worked to strengthen these relationships through initiatives such as teacher check ins before and after school clubs, family engagement events and professional development for our staff to identify and address attendance concerns early on.

And they say don't underestimate the value of rewards for students who show up to class.

In Trenton, I'm Joanna Vegas, NJ.

Spotlight News.