More than 1,500 Cherry Hill students were chronically absent from school last year, a number district officials hope to address by focusing not just on attendance, but on the reasons students may struggle to show up in the first place.
Cherry Hill Public Schools officials presented an update on chronic absenteeism during the Sept. 22 Board of Education meeting, outlining three years of district data and a multi-tiered approach that emphasizes student belonging, family outreach and individualized support.
“While attendance is important, ultimately, attendance itself isn’t the ultimate outcome we’re looking for,” said Dr. Scott Goldthorp, Director of Special Projects and Student Services. “The larger goal is making sure students are connected to school.”
Under New Jersey’s definition, a student is chronically absent when they miss 10% or more of the school days for which they are enrolled. Goldthorp described chronic absenteeism as an “early indicator of a lost opportunity to learn.”
Cherry Hill’s districtwide chronic absenteeism rate has remained relatively steady during the past three school years. In 2023-24, 1,568 students, or 14.61% of included enrollment, were chronically absent. That declined to 1,545 students, or 14.27%, in 2024-25 before reaching 1,547 students, or 14.20%, last year.
Goldthorp said the consistency means the district has an opportunity to identify students who have struggled with attendance and better match them with supports.
“Historically, we know these students that are chronically absent,” he said. “We’ve identified them. So now we need to match the supports with those students to bring them back to school.”
The picture varies considerably by school.
Nine district schools lowered their chronic absenteeism rates over the three-year period, two remained relatively stable and six recorded higher rates. Officials said that gives Cherry Hill an opportunity both to provide targeted assistance to schools experiencing challenges and replicate strategies being used in schools where attendance has improved.
The district’s data also demonstrated a relationship between attendance and academic performance.
At the secondary level, students who were not chronically absent during 2025-26 had an average course grade of 87, compared with 80.6 for chronically absent students. About 44.3% of chronically absent students failed at least one course, compared with 21.4% of students who were not chronically absent.
Discipline data showed another disparity: 32.8% of chronically absent students were involved in a disciplinary incident, compared with 18.9% of students who weren’t chronically absent. Goldthorp cautioned that the numbers don’t mean absenteeism caused disciplinary problems, but said the relationship is important for the district to recognize.
District officials stressed there isn’t one explanation for why students miss school.
Attendance can be affected by academic difficulties, family circumstances, health, transportation or a student’s connection to school. As a result, officials said the district’s response needs to be both systematic and individualized.
One example discussed during the meeting involved a family experiencing homelessness under the federal McKinney-Vento law. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law that protects the educational rights of students experiencing homelessness or housing instability. It requires school districts to help remove barriers to enrollment and attendance, including providing transportation and allowing students to remain in their school of origin when appropriate. An elementary school and middle school worked with the family and the district’s transportation department to coordinate transportation for a second- and sixth-grade student.
Another elementary school worked with a small group of students who had exceeded the 10% absenteeism threshold for two consecutive years. Students received tangible rewards for attending all five days of a week, while school staff partnered with their families to encourage consistent attendance. Officials said the effort reduced absenteeism among those students.
The district hopes to expand those kinds of practices through its Multi-Tiered System of Supports, or MTSS. School teams review attendance, identify students who may be struggling before they cross the chronic-absence threshold, reach out to families and monitor whether interventions are working. The district’s presentation identified early family outreach and collaboration among administrators, counselors, teachers, nurses and other staff as practices used by schools showing improvement.
Special-education students were also raised during the board discussion.
Board member Bridget Palmer asked what percentage of chronically absent students have an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, or a 504 plan and how MTSS intersects with special education.
Officials did not have the percentage available at the meeting but said special-education needs are considered when reviewing individual attendance cases.
George Guy, Director of Elementary Education, explained that during the 2025-26 school year, chronic-absenteeism reports identified whether a student had an IEP, and child study team case managers participated in MTSS meetings involving those students.
“We did have to differentiate on several occasions,” Guy said, explaining that principals, case managers and school counselors worked together when determining Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions. That work will continue this year, with case managers available to discuss existing supports and potentially expand them with more intensive Tier 3 services.
Board members also discussed how medical absences can affect students with special needs. A member noted that parents may assume an illness or doctor’s appointment is considered an excused absence for state chronic-absenteeism calculations.
District officials clarified that Cherry Hill’s classification of excused and unexcused absences is different from the state Department of Education criteria used for chronic-absenteeism reporting.
At the high-school level, officials said staff are trying to intervene before students reach the 10% threshold. Administrators are already reviewing attendance reports, while teachers are encouraged to contact counselors and other support staff when students begin missing school or stop completing important assignments.
At High School West, teachers have also developed a collection of strategies centered on building relationships with students rather than academics alone.
“Why do you get up in the morning? Why are you here? What motivates you?” Caroline Steer, Director of Secondary Education, said of the questions underlying that approach.
For Goldthorp, success ultimately goes beyond lowering a percentage.
“It’s about knowing our students,” he said. “It’s about noticing when something is a barrier to them reaching their success, and it’s about connecting those students with the supports that are available.”
“When students are here, they have the opportunity to learn,” he added. “When students feel they belong, they have a reason to be here.”
