Glens Falls solving absenteeism problem
News deserts may be contributing to political polarization of rural communties
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One of the staples at The Post-Star going back decades was its commitment to covering education. With 35 or so school districts spread out across the region, even one reporter wasn't enough to cover it all. With the cutbacks at so many newspapers, that is impossible today.
So it was impressive to see North Country Public Radio reporter Amy Feiereisel do a deep dive into an issue that has become significant throughout the North Country - school attendance.
Her reporting revealed, not only that Glens Falls had a problem, but that it had addressed it and was making progress toward solving it.
During the post covid years in 2022 and 2023, one in three New York students were absent more than 15 times during the school year. It previously had been one in five which isn't that great either.
Teachers and administrators noticed this was having an impact on education.
"Because when you have students in the class that are chronically absent, it impacts every student in that class when they come back," Glens Falls' former middle school principal Kristy Moore told Feiereisel.
Glens Falls was one of those schools with a problem.
When Glens Falls hired its new superintendent, Krislynn Dengler, in 2022, the goal was to improve graduation rates, but it was soon evident the two issues were interlocked.
Feiereisel cited poverty, mental health and substance abuse leading to "unstable housing" as the root cause and the reality that each family's dynamic was different.
"Those are big issues and can seem impossible to tackle," Feiereisel wrote.
But Glens Falls tackled the problem head on and has seen improvement.
Its absenteeism rate dropped from a high of 34 percent at the height of the pandemic down to 22 percent at the end of last year.
Glens Falls created a new position for Moore, the middle school principal, to address the problem.
She found parents often did not know their children were chronically absent so the district began sending home attendance progress reports every five weeks while making it clear they wanted to help them solve the problem.
Moore created "chronic absence teams" in at each grade level to provide plans to help students catch up on work missed.
Glens Falls found that mental health issues were also a factor.
"Social conflict or bullying at school, their own anxieties, the results of trauma that's occurring in the home or the impacts of substance abuse, whether it's their own or their families," were all factors Moore told Feiereisel. Glens Falls contracted with a mental health network to provide added help as needed with three clinicians coming to the high school and middle school. There is often a wait list to see them.
"The worst feeling is a student or a family presenting a need that we can't meet," Moore says in the article
Feiereisel's reporting is exceptional and the kind of reporting at the local level we don't see as much of anymore, especially on subjects like education.
Glens Falls' story is the kind of story that communities need to hear. It is also a roadmap for other school districts to emulate to solve their own problems.
More of those educations stories need to be told.
Less local news
Jess Piper was a high school literature teacher in Missouri for 16 years before running for state office. In a recent Substack column, she theorized the lack of local news outlets has led to the polarization of small, rural communities because they they turned to national cable news for their information.
Part of the reason I wrote The Last American Newspaper was to remind readers of the value of local news coverage and without it, bad things happen.
Piper cited research by Syracuse University professor in a recent column:
"According to research by Joshua P. Darr, a professor at Syracuse University, “…news deserts have the potential to affect voting behavior in important ways. When voters lose access to local news, they tend to gravitate toward national news sources. This kind of news, by definition, focuses on broad national issues—abortion, immigration, the economy, etc.—without regard to local conditions.”
How Republicans and Democrats conduct business in Warren County is far different than how Republicans and Democrats conduct business in Washington, D.C.
Piper added this from Steven Waldman, the president of Rebuild Local News:
"Some of the most common victims of the collapse of local news” are the same people who support Trump. They’re victims, he elaborated, because of all the documented consequences of life in a news desert: more political corruption, higher taxes, lower bond ratings, greater social alienation and rising misinformation, as well as the loss of social cohesion when subjects such as high school sports, local obituaries, and community projects aren’t covered."
The issues that local communities face vs. what they we see covered in national news are far different and much more personal. And we are not seeing those issues covered as much anymore. Many voters did not hesitate to split their vote between parties in local elections, but without that local election coverage, that is not necessarily the case.
Happy anniversary
I was taking down one of the Christmas displays in the Chapman Museum this past week when a couple struck up a conversation.
The husband said they were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their first date.
The fact they knew that date was impressive.
They said they were celebrating it by doing a museum day. They had visited The Hyde that morning and after leaving the Chapman were heading to Saratoga for a couple more museums.
What a great idea.
More people should do that if they can remember the date of their first date.
Battlefield Park
The Chapman Museum kicks off its "Conversations with the Past" event this month with a program Wednesday about "Lake George Battlefield Park: History and Future."
John DiNuzzo, president of the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance, and Margy Mannix, the Lake George town historian, will present a program on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Chapman.
The program will cover the history of the 35-acre state park and its history during the French and Indian War and the American revolution. They will also share a look at the planned 2026 reinterment in the park of 44 Continental soldiers and others who perished at Lake George in 1776. While the program is free, because of limited space make sure to call and secure a spot by calling (518) 793-2826.
Beautiful drive
This past spring after visiting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, my wife and I decided to return to our hotel in Marina del Rey via the scenic route.
We drove down a winding canyon road to Malibu and took the Pacific Coast Highway through the Pacific Palisades.
It was a beautiful drive and gave you an understanding of why so many of the rich and famous choose to live in the area.
To see the the photos of the devastation of that area this week was shocking and should be a wakeup call to every man, woman and child about the significance of climate change.
No reply
As of Saturday, we have yet to hear from Stec or anyone in the campaign.
Well, the questions were tough.
Replacing Stefanik
If you are looking for the latest information regarding who might replace Elise Stefanik in the 21st Congressional District, you might to check out the story from Times Union reporter Lucy Hodgman.
It chronicles who is interested in running, how the representatives of each party will be chosen and Stefanik's apparent disinterest in it all.
ATF fundraiser
It's no secret the pandemic had a chilling affect on local and regional theater. It means it is more important than ever to support the Adirondack Theater Festival.
Their annual fundraiser, a Las Vegas night at Heritage Hall in Glens Falls, is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 8 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
I've been attending ATF shows for more than 25 years and believe its original shows are an incredible asset to the arts scene in our community. My play The Last American Newspaper is also in development through ATF, so I hope you will support that important week so that the stage play will come to fruition.
ATF will announce its lineup for shows at the Feb., 8 events. I urge you to attend and support theater in our community.
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
years ago my father in law, a retired FBI agent, worked for the warren county probation dept. One of his tasks was to go to the home of absentee kids and take them to school. He did not have to take the same child often,
Thanks, Ken, for this morning’s n local news coverage.
Kudos to the Glens Falls School District for attacking the issue of absenteeism head on, rather than sweeping it under the table. And to NPR for reporting on the issue.
As a firm believer in and supporter of public education—having been a grateful recipient, a parent, a former member of two local school boards, and married to an educator—I realize the importance of the students’ regular presence in the classroom, and the part parents play in making that happen.
Our schools can do little if they do not have the support of the home/parents. Making parents aware of the problem of absenteeism is an important first step.