Superintendent Tony Thurman highlights Folsom Cordova’s success as model in fight against chronic absenteeism
California took a major step Tuesday in its campaign to combat chronic absenteeism, unveiling a new statewide attendance guide and setting a goal to cut student absences in half within five years.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond led a press conference at Williamson Elementary in Rancho Cordova alongside state lawmakers, education leaders and local officials to release the California Attendance Guide, a resource designed to turn recent statewide and local successes into strategies that can be implemented by every school, district and county office of education.
California’s overall chronic absenteeism rate has dropped from a pandemic high of 30 percent in 2022 to 20.4 percent in 2024. Folsom Cordova Unified School District, where Tuesday’s event was held, has seen even greater improvements, reducing absenteeism from 23.5 percent to 14.5 percent over the last three years, with progress across all student groups, including Black, Hispanic and students with Individualized Education Programs.
“This is one of the most important issues in education,” Thurmond said. “When kids miss more than 10 percent of school, we know that it creates major challenges for them. And secondly, this is an issue that we can actually do something about. We can change the course of the direction of the educational experience for our students by simply addressing this issue. We’re making a pledge to reduce chronic absenteeism by 50 percent over the course of the next five years. And it’s my hope that we can get that done before the five years.”
Thurmond emphasized that attendance is not simply about compliance with state reporting requirements, but about connecting students and families to schools. “Attendance isn’t about compliance. It’s about connection,” he said. “Our community schools in our district have done so much to change the paradigm and the thinking about things like attendance. We’re really focusing in and doubling down on connectedness, making sure our students, the staff, and their families feel really connected to schools.”
He added that the state’s $4 billion investment in community schools, along with nearly $200 million in attendance improvement grants, is a commitment to fund what works. “If you believe in it, you fund it,” Thurmond said. “There’s really no such thing as an excused absence. If they’re well enough to be in school, they have to be in school. Our laws and our courts guarantee the rights of an education for our students regardless of their citizenship. We want every other district to hear it…come on to this district, a district that is achieving.”
Local strategies show success
FCUSD Superintendent Erik Swanson said the district’s receipt of a grant from the California Community Schools Partnership Program has been “a game-changer” in its attendance work. The district’s improvement strategies include direct outreach, staff consistency, and personal follow-ups with families.
“Every absence has a story, and sometimes it’s a student who misses the bus because mom is working two jobs. Sometimes it’s a family that’s struggling to find stable housing or a student stepping in to care for siblings,” said FCUSD Child Welfare and Attendance Specialist Maggie Cunin. “Attendance isn’t about compliance. It’s about connection. And a shift has made all the difference for us here at Folsom Cordova. In just three years, we’ve reduced chronic absenteeism from 23.5 percent to 14.5 percent. That’s 500 more students in classrooms every single day.”
Cunin described the district’s twice-yearly “20-day attendance challenge,” which ensures students receive a personal call home if they miss a day during the challenge period. “Every percentage point is not just a statistic. It’s a student back in class, a family back in rhythm, and a community back in sync,” she said. “Attendance is our most powerful academic intervention. The most effective strategies don’t necessarily require money. They require presence, consistency, and help.”
Legislative efforts address barriers
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, stressed that ensuring students feel safe at school is critical. “The most important academic intervention that we can provide…is getting kids to school,” Muratsuchi said. “All of our efforts that we have been making in the state legislature to support our kids, to invest in our kids, doesn’t mean anything unless and until we get the kids at school in the classroom.”
Muratsuchi pointed to Assembly Bill 49, the California State Haven Schools Act, which he is carrying to protect students and families from immigration enforcement on school campuses. “Providing a safe and supporting school environment is the common theme, whether we’re talking about the pandemic or what we’re seeing the challenges today with the immigration rates having a huge impact on student attendance,” he said. “I’m working with Senator Perez, Superintendent Thurmond, and many people on this group to pass Assembly Bill 49 as part of our effort to make sure that schools are safe and supportive environment.”
State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, chair of the Senate Education Committee, echoed the call for stronger protections and support. “Schools have always served as the hearts of our neighborhoods. They are where students go enrich their minds and hearts and connect with peers from all walks of life,” Pérez said. “When students miss school, they miss these key supports, and their academic achievement is impacted. The COVID-19 pandemic was a major inflection point in our state trajectory in addressing chronic absenteeism. It also served as a call to action for all of us in the education space to modernize the way we provide education and the critical services that students need to succeed. Chronic absenteeism is a systemic issue that deserves an all hands on deck approach. We know that the strategic priorities that are recognized at California’s attendance guide, such as the well-being and safety of our students, family engagement, and student connectedness is what gets students to show up.”
Collaboration and the new attendance guide
The California Attendance Guide, developed in partnership with Attendance Works and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, was presented as a centerpiece of the state’s attendance improvement plan. The guide includes data tools, communication scripts, and step-by-step strategies districts can tailor to their needs.
“Attendance Works is proud to play a part in the statewide effort to improve attendance and engage students in learning,” said Cecelia Leong, Vice President of Programs at Attendance Works. “We issued a 50 percent challenge to all states in the nation. And we are so thankful, Superintendent Thurmond, that California has committed to this goal. We should take a moment to celebrate the hard work that it took to get to this point, but we’re not satisfied. Community schools, strong family engagement, making school a welcoming place where students want to be. We have a lot of expertise in California…and yet we don’t align intentionally so many times. And by working together, I think we will achieve those reductions.”
Suji Shin, Deputy Executive Director of CCEE, framed the gains in terms of students’ time in classrooms. “We are talking about more than 500,000, almost 600,000, half a million students more who are no longer chronically absent. In real terms, we’re talking about millions of additional instructional hours,” Shin said. “Even with the improvements that we’ve seen, we’re still talking about more than one in five students in all of our schools who are still missing more than 10 percent of their instructional time, and that is still too much. There are some incredible and real opportunities to learn from our school and district peers who have done the work to really bring their students and families safely back onto campus. We know that we are strong and work together. We know that we have a lot to learn from each other, and we’re really hoping to use this as platform to be able to do so.”
Next steps
The state has pledged to maintain funding and partnerships over the next five years as part of the 50 percent reduction goal. Future action includes distributing the California Attendance Guide and resource hub to every district and county office, encouraging districts to share their own tools, allocating the next round of absenteeism reduction grants, and expanding supports such as transportation and health access for families.
Thurmond closed the event by calling on every district to join in. “We want every other district to hear it—come on to this district, a district that is achieving,” he said.
Learn more about and view the details of the California Attendance Guide HERE.
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