How three Tennessee principals plan to tackle this school year’s challenges

While families prepare to send their children back to school, many educators are already back in their buildings. And even though large-scale pandemic disruptions are in the rearview, principals say some COVID-related trends continue to cause challenges.

Many schools initially focused on the immediate issue — getting kids caught up on academic content. And on the whole, that recovery has gone better in Metro Nashville Public Schools than many other districts across the country. But DuPont Hadley Middle School Principal Kevin Armstrong said he is gearing up to address a lingering issue: kids not showing up.

“We have the same students that are coming from the same families that are missing, you know, 30, 40, 50 days of school,” Armstrong said.

Chronic absenteeism

During the pandemic, the number of chronically absent students ballooned. (That’s kids who miss at least 10% of school days.) And the rate of kids missing too much class, while improving, is still high — roughly one in four nationally.

That can have serious implications.

Chronically absent students are more likely to fall behind and leave school altogether. And dropping out is associated with serious long-term outcomes, like lower wages and ending up involved with the criminal justice system.

So this year, when DuPont Hadley students have an unexcused absence, a staff member will be calling up parents. And with this approach, timing is everything.

“We feel like contacting them the first day that they come back is pivotal for us in helping curb some of our absences,” Armstrong said.

Behavior challenges

Meanwhile in West Tennessee, Principal Sharonda Rose of Rivercrest Elementary School is dealing with a different pandemic-related problem: misbehavior.

In May 2022, more than 80% of public schools in the U.S. reported that the pandemic had a negative impact on student behavior. Rose said many younger students at her school come without the skills they need to regulate their own emotions.

“We know that behavior is a form of communication. So our students that have those severe needs are, you know, asking — crying out for help,” Rose said.

So her school is focusing on social emotional learning. Teachers at her school are getting training. Plus, they’re bringing in a behavior specialist and social worker from the district. And she’s calling on the most influential people in students’ lives, their caregivers.

“So, quarterly, we’ll have parents come in to the school. And we’ll have sessions where we give tips and strategies to parents on how to address those behaviors that they’re seeing at home,” Rose said.

Expiring relief federal funds

Back in Metro Nashville, Ann-Marie Gleason of Harpeth Valley Elementary said her school is also taking steps to support social and emotional wellbeing. Every classroom has an area known as a peace corner. And staff are on site to help students regulate their feelings.

But Gleason is mindful that some of these mental health supports were not a given.

“There were, you know, quite a bit of federal dollars that were infused to our schools during COVID or as COVID recovery funding. And those funds are no longer available.”

The last of the pandemic recovery funds known as ESSER expire this fall. But the MNPS Board, Metro Council and mayor’s office worked together to preserve the most-effective programs that had used those relief dollars. Gleason said she’s grateful.

“We are seeing recovery from COVID academically, socially, emotionally,” Gleason said. “But we need to be able to continue to provide those supports, because those needs have not gone away.”

Metro Schools is pulling from reserves to keep up some of those supports this year, among other things. The district says it hopes to move funding for pandemic-era programs into the regular operating budget in the future.