Student attendance in Keizer schools has made some gains in the past two years but the share of students attending school regularly in Keizer is still below pre-pandemic levels, according to new data released from the Oregon Department of Education.
The data, released Thursday, Nov. 20, shows that student attendance at some Keizer schools improved in the 2024-2025 school year. Students demonstrated a significant boost in attendance at Keizer Elementary School while student attendance at other schools decreased slightly or remained similar to the previous year.
The education department released the attendance data while updating Oregon’s Online Report Card and At-a-Glance Profiles, which allow the public to compare a number of data points from their local schools to district and state averages. Test scores and graduation rates are examples of other data points included.
The state considers students who are present for 90% of their enrolled days to be “regular attenders,” while those who fall below that are considered “chronically absent.”
Students at four schools in Keizer improved regular attendance last year, including Forest Ridge Elementary school, with a 4.3% increase from the 2023-2024 school year; Whiteaker Middle School, with a 5.2% increase; and Keizer Elementary School, with a 13.1% increase.
At Claggett Creek Middle School, 56% of students attended regularly last year, or 414 of 737 students. This is a 1% increase from last year’s 55%
Forest Ridge had 154 of its 215 students regularly attending school last year, or 72%, Whiteaker had 440 of 626 students regularly attending, or 70%, and Keizer Elementary School had 359 of 540 students regularly, or 67%.
Students at four schools in Keizer showed a small decrease in regular attendance last year, including those at Cummings Elementary School, with a 3.4% decrease. Regular attendance by students at Clear Lake Elementary School, Kennedy Elementary School and Weddle Elementary School decreased roughly 2%.
Cummings had 228 of 379 total students regularly attending last year, or 60%, Clear Lake had 223 of 297 students regularly attending, or 75%, Kennedy had 209 of 341 students regularly attending, or 61%, and Weddle had 200 of 337 students regularly attending, or 59%.
Students at all Keizer schools except McNary High School regularly attended school at a pace at or above the district rate. Districtwide, 57% of students in Salem-Keizer schools were considered regular attenders. That was about 1% better than the year before.
This is below the state average of 67%.
Students at five schools in Keizer — Clear Lake, Forest Ridge, Gubser, Keizer and Whiteaker — regularly attended school at a higher rate than the state average.
Suzanne Leonard, Whiteaker principal, said that student attendance allows opportunities for student learning.
Aaron Harada, district director of Community Relations and Communications, added that students benefit from connections when they are at school.
“Something we also know is important to students and families is the opportunity to connect with their peers, to build those relationships,” Harada said. He noted that when attending school students have access to extra curricular activities and support, such as school meals and counselors.
Harada said a district survey found that anxiety is one reason that kids don’t want to come to school.
Leonard and Cherise Cochrane, former Keizer principal now at Waldo Middle School, agreed.
“General anxiety or uncomfortableness – we saw that especially coming out of the pandemic, returning to big spaces with lots of people,” Harada said.
He said that transportation issues and medical appointments also lead to absences.
Harada noted that district officials have talked with medical providers about arranging appointments outside of school hours, which he believes has been effective.
Leonard said one effort to boost student attendance at Whiteaker was to help improve students’ sense of belonging in school.
“If a student feels like they belong, then they want to be here,” Leonard said. “They look forward to coming to school.”
Whiteaker achieved this through promoting positive student-staff relationships, after-school activities such like music and sports, advisory periods and leadership opportunities.
According to Harada, the strategy to foster student belonging to improve attendance aligns with national research the district has considered since the pandemic. That research shows a “strong correlation between sense of belonging and students showing up at school.”
Cochrane was principal at Keizer Elementary for three years before moving to Waldo Middle School this year. She said Keizer staff set a goal to improve attendance. Previously, the school’s goals focused on academics, she said.
Attendance was added as a goal because the school was not seeing improvement in either students’ sense of belonging or attendance, despite the focus on improving belonging, she said.
The school took a three-tiered approach, Cochrane said: strategies for all students, strategies for some students in need of more intervention and strategies for students with the most troublesome attendance.
Cochrane said the school implemented awards for all students related to attendance and being on time as an incentive. For those in need of more support, the school also added attendance mentors. Cochrane feels that made the most significant impact to attendance numbers.
“We got a really positive response from families,” Cochrane said about the attendance monitors.
She said families of students needing help often told the school that their child would resist going to school. Parents were struggling to get their child to school while also supporting other children in the family, she said.
“We said ‘okay we can help you with that part,’” Cochrane said.
The attendance awards and mentors motivated students to come to school, she said.
Scott Gragg, McNary principal, said the school has implemented attendance incentives as well. The school recently started an attendance committee to explore possibilities such as considering regular, on-time attendance a factor for eligibility to participate in certain school activities. . He noted that the school emphasizes joining in clubs, activities or sports.
“We’re looking at other ways that we can engage our students and our community to create a culture, really…of being at school and being in the classes, engaged,” Gragg said.
The new state data also showed that McNary saw a boost in the percentage of freshmen who are on track for graduation. The rate of 87% on track improved over the previous year’s 84%. Gragg said that rate represents where the school will be with four- and five-year graduation rates.
Have a news tip? Contact Krista Kroiss by email at [email protected]
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