Even four years after COVID-19 began, student absenteeism remains high in San Diego Unified. Now the Padres are stepping in to try and help.
San Diego Unified announced a new attendance contest that offers free Padres tickets for the elementary school that improves attendance the most by April. The contest is a partnership between San Diego’s baseball franchise and the school district.
The contest is open not to all schools but to the San Diego Unified elementary schools “most impacted by absenteeism.” Meanwhile all district elementary schools that boost attendance will enter a drawing for free tickets.
The contest will take place during March and April, with the winner announced in May.
Attendance incentives are not uncommon in schools. Schools often offer prizes such as awards and gift cards for students who achieve high attendance.
Chronic absenteeism remains elevated years after COVID-19 began. Many factors contribute to absenteeism, including student and family member illnesses, lack of basic needs like transportation and housing and lack of school engagement.
Last school year, more than a quarter of San Diego Unified students were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10 percent of school days. That’s up from about 12 percent before the pandemic, but better than the previous year’s 34 percent rate.
Among individual schools, absenteeism rates reached as high as 76 percent last school year.
Attendance is important, educators say, not only for students to learn but for them to get access to other resources that schools offer.
“For our students to thrive, they need to be in school every day,” San Diego Unified Superintendent Lamont Jackson said in a statement. “When our students are in school they have access to academics and counseling services, free nutritious meals, support from their peers, and from caring school staff.”
