Polk County News
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 30, 2015
Dallas, Central above state attendance levels
Falls City and Perrydale fall below state average at 76.6 and 78 percent, respectively
By Jolene Guzman
catch up and get frustrated,
pulling them back into class
is more challenging.
“You can draw a perfectly
straight line between atten-
dance and the struggles they
are having in school,”
Thompson said.
Willamette Education
Service District offers Falls
City a truancy officer who
speaks to students and their
parents about the impor-
tance of attendance.
“He goes out and talks to
the families,” Thompson
said. “He does a good job.”
But there really is no way
of forcing students to at-
tend beyond having a court
issue parents a fine. By the
time that process is com-
plete, the damage to the
Angela B. Mosieur, senior, for-
est engineering; Sydnee R.
Stoller, junior, agricultural busi-
ness management; Troy V.
Tyma, sophomore, physics;
Trevor A. Whitaker, junior, pre-
mechanical engineering.
Monmouth
4.0 GPA: Makayla R. Kach-
lein, sophomore, zoology; Ben-
jamin E. Petersen, junior, histo-
ry; Anne C. Snell, freshman, en-
vironmental sciences.
3.5 to 3.99 GPA: Erica B.
Brown, senior, bio-health sci-
ences; Hanna R. Brown, fresh-
man, bio-health sciences; Julia
L. Kenyon, freshman, university
exploratory studies; Sean R.
Maroney, sophomore, universi-
ty exploratory studies; Zachary
D. Mcclure, senior, chemical en-
gineering, Trevor Nash, fresh-
man, biology; Travis J. Rice,
senior, public health; Emily F.
Wells, sophomore, environ-
mental sciences.
Rickreall
4.0 GPA: Jenna Drader, jun-
ior, nutrition.
3.5 to 3.99 GPA: Bridget H.
Regan, junior, zoology.
Polk County school districts
attendance rates 2014-15
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — State
and local educators see a di-
rect relationship between
academic success and the
percentage of classes a stu-
dent attends.
This month the Oregon
Department of Education
released a report tracking
how many students in each
d i s t r i c t a re a b ove t h e
“chronic absence” thresh-
old, “positive attendance” of
90 percent during the 2014-
15 school year.
Polk County’s two largest
districts, excluding Salem-
Keizer, are both above the
state average of 83 percent.
Central had the highest per-
centage of student “not
chronically absent” at 85
percent. Dallas was second
at 83.7 percent.
All four districts saw lower
attendance at the kinder-
garten level. Perrydale saw
71.4 percent “positive” at-
tendance; Falls City had a
72.7 percent rate; Central re-
ported 76.7 percent; and
Dallas had the highest at
77.6 percent.
Steve Martinelli, Dallas’
director of instructional
services, said lower atten-
d a n c e a m o n g D a l l a s’
youngest students could be
a product of having half-day
student’s education is al-
ready done.
“Your kid has missed a lot
of school at that point,”
Thompson said.
Central Superintendent
Buzz Brazeau said the dis-
trict also is using rewards to
emphasize good attendance
and making school an envi-
ronment students want to
be in.
He’s seen evidence of that
in periodic visits to his
schools.
“What I saw was a real
sense of excitement in
teachers as they are teaching
their class. That translates to
kids,” he said.
Brazeau added just being
above the state average isn’t
good enough.
He would like to see more
students districtwide finding
a teacher, sport, activity or
elective that motivates them
to come to school.
He noted some absences
are because of participation
in athletic events, but that is
a problem the district will
live with.
“What can we do to con-
nect to kids?” he said. “If you
are connected, you are
probably going to come.
That will solve the problem.”
For more information or
to see the report, go to
www.polkio.com for a link to
the report.
Central
Dallas
Falls City
Perrydale
Total students
enrolled
No. of students not
chronically absent*
Percentage of students not
chronically absent
2,999
2,943
128
309
2,549
2,464
98
241
85
83.7
76.6
78
*Not chronically absent is defined as student attending school at least 90 percent of the time.
Source: Oregon Department of Education. State average is 83 percent.
GRAPHIC BY LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
classes until this year. He
said it’s much easier to keep
a child home from school
for an appointment when
classes are only half days.
“We are hoping with the
addition of a full-day kinder-
garten program we will see
an increase in attendance at
this grade level,” Martinelli
said. “In fact, early numbers
indicate this to be true, and
we will wait to see if the
trend continues.”
Dallas also saw a dip in
attendance in seventh and
eighth grades, at 79.8 per-
cent and 77.3 percent re-
spectively.
Martinelli is hoping the
addition of more electives at
LaCreole Middle School will
increase positive attendance
at that level.
“We are pretty skilled at
identifying those families
in need and providing sup-
port to them,” Martinelli
said. “As always, our work
begins at the lower grade
levels. If we can encourage
good attendance and set
up families with positive
school routines, then we
will have less of an atten-
dance problem in future
grades.”
Perrydale and Falls City
were below state average, at
78 percent and 76.6 percent,
respectively.
Falls City Superintendent
Jack Thompson said it is just
common sense that good at-
tendance in most cases
would result in better suc-
cess for students.
“If they are not in class,
they are not getting the edu-
cation we are trying to
teach,” he said.
The difficult part is get-
ting those students who are
chronically absent engaged
in their schooling again.
He said the school tries to
recognize and reward stu-
dents with perfect and “pos-
itive” attendance records.
Falls City also tries to make
school a fun place to be,
where they can see their
friends and cultivate good
relationships with teachers
and staff.
That works for most stu-
dents.
For those who miss so
much school they can’t
ACADEMIC HONORS
OSU announces
fall honor roll
CORVALLIS — Names of stu-
dents from Polk County who
have made the scholastic
honor roll fall term have been
announced by Oregon State
University.
Students on the honor roll
are:
Dallas
4.0 GPA: Katharine E. Craw-
ford, senior, psychology ;
Megan L. Mahoney, junior, dig-
ital communication ar ts;
Amanda J. McCollister, senior,
human development and fami-
ly science; Kaden Z. Montague,
senior, electrical & computer
engineering; Jacob R. Shryer,
freshman, pre-mechanical en-
gineering; Zacheriah A. Tucker,
senior, psychology.
3.5 to 3.99 GPA: Tyler D.
Aldrich, senior, athletic train-
ing; Alexander L. Bird, junior,
civil engineering; Kimberly R.
Brown, senior, women, gender
and sexuality; Janet H. Fergu-
son, junior, chemistry; Callie A.
Instenes, senior, graphic de-
sign; Felicia L. Kluting, junior,
accountancy; Emily A. Lund,
junior, public health; Conner J.
Maclean, freshman, pre-civil
engineering; Joseph P. Orton,
sophomore, biology; Michael
Polander, senior, mechanical
engineering; Garen L. Porter,
freshman, pre-computer sci-
ence; Ryan W. Springer, fresh-
man, pre-computer science;
Alyson N. Steckley, senior,
human development and fami-
ly science; Kyle R. Stockdall,
junior, marketing; Anthony M.
Tallon, senior, exercise and
sport science.
Falls City
3.5 to 3.99 GPA:
Caleb J. Schmidt, Junior, me-
chanical engineering.
Independence
3.5 to 3.99 GPA:
Justin T. Bruntmyer, senior,
computer science; Carlos Fal-
con, senior, exercise and sport
science; Matthew G.
Grandquist, junior, biology;
Stephen Hinkle, sophomore,
English; Megan R. Marchand,
junior, agricultural sciences;