The summer heat gives way to the fall semester for thousands of students across the county.
In Oceanside, school officials are working to lower chronic absenteeism even before the first day of school.
The Oceanside Unified School District has a team of 20 counselors, support staff, and a social worker making house calls and delivering backpacks full of school supplies.
The effort is designed to address an 18% increase last school year in the number of students who missed more than 18 days of classes. That's about 3,000 of the district's students in kindergarten through 12th grade across 23 campuses.
“We want to know before the school year starts. Do you have what you need? Is there anything we can do to support you proactively? Do you know when school starts and where to register," said Jordy Sparks, executive director of the district's DEI and Student Support.
Shelia Golding’s 9-year-old granddaughter missed more than a month of classes at Palmquist Elementary, last school year.
“In second grade, she started having issues and she had health issues. That's when it all started. Once they miss, they don’t want to go back," Golding said.
Some parents call Maria Al-Shamma the "kid whisperer” because of her ability to connect with students struggling to attend school.
Al-Shamma is actually the district’s social worker who has made 700 phone calls in the last two weeks to families with children who need support. She's also delivered backpacks with supplies and made home visits.
“Parents don’t realize when you have your kids out a day or two here and there that really adds up. So, two days a month ends up being 10% of the school year," she said.
California does have truancy laws with real legal consequences for parents with children who don’t show up for school.
According to state law, when a student is habitually truant, they may be referred to a school attendance review board (SARB) or to the county probation department. Parents who do not take action to prevent truancy can face fines, a court order to attend parenting classes, loss of welfare benefits or jail time.
Students at Prince Park were getting in some skateboarding Friday before summer vacation ends.
Nina Ye, 13, was one of them. She wants to be a professional skateboarder someday. She begins eighth grade in two weeks and has a plan to study, train, and not miss school.
“You go to school, you do school work, and then once you get out around 3, you go to the skatepark and have fun," she said.
