MBUSD has launched an attendance awareness campaign to prioritize regular attendance and address chronic absenteeism. 

In the 2023-24 school year, 6.41% of our students missed 10% or more of the school year. When students are absent this often, it is called chronic absenteeism. At this level of absence, students are at increased risk of academic failure, and chronic absenteeism is considered an early predictor of high school dropout. Whether absences are excused or unexcused, missing this much school has a negative impact on student performance - and even missing just a few days can create challenges for learning.  Before the pandemic, chronic absenteeism districtwide was approximately 2%. MBUSD is committed to working with families to return to chronic absenteeism rates at or below that level, ensuring that every student is fully engaged and thriving in their education.

MBUSD’s attendance awareness campaign theme, “Thrive with MBUSD: Together, Every Day,” underscores the critical importance of daily attendance. Building excellent attendance habits is the best way to develop essential skills to help our students succeed in high school, college, and beyond. 

In addition to being essential to supporting student learning, attendance is also important because MBUSD only receives funding for students who are actually in attendance (we are funded based on our Average Daily Attendance or “ADA,” not just our enrollment). ADA is defined as the total days of student attendance divided by the total days of instruction during which the student is enrolled. Each day a student misses school, the District loses approximately $65. 1% ADA in MBUSD = approximately almost $700,000.  

While we understand that sometimes absences are unavoidable, we appreciate families working with teachers to ensure that students do not fall behind. We also appreciate families considering donating to help the District recover lost funding.  Please click here to make your $65 daily absence donation through our Square payment portal.

Statistically, students with chronic absenteeism demonstrate greater learning gaps, lower test scores, and more challenges in social interactions than their peers who attend school regularly. We are dedicated to maximizing each student's academic success and know that we can achieve this by having our students come to learn at our schools every day. Parents, teachers, staff, and administrators all play a vital role in encouraging school attendance. Join us in celebrating the impact of thriving every day with MBUSD. Need support with attendance? Please contact your site administrator.

Please take a moment to watch the new MBUSD-produced “Butts in Seats” video reinforcing the importance of attendance.