DUNKIRK, N.Y. — Brittany Cerrie-Allen has two young sons in elementary school in Dunkirk, Chautauqua County.
She’s one of hundreds of parents across the district now using its artificial intelligence program to communicate in real time with the school attendance robot when her kids are absent or have a doctor’s appointment.
“This is cool. As easy as texting a friend back. Sometimes it’s easy to forget and call the school to alert them, especially if you have a sick child at home, or rushing to get to an appointment, so it does help the parents and the school stay in touch,” said Cerrie-Allen.
The program is called Edia, which the district first used for math instruction, before adopting its attendance program.
Superintendent Brian Swatland says this time last year in a district of just under 2,000 students, 38% were chronically absent, meaning they missed 18 or more days of school.
“So every day a kid is not in school, it’s a missed day of learning,” said Swatland. “It’s a missed opportunity for our students, so it’s important to try and change that.”
He says thanks to the technology, the rate has dropped to 22%, closer to his goal of below 20% in its first year.
“The proudest part for me is students are in school more, and we’re increasing student achievement through that,” said Swatland.
He says there’s a 40-50% response rate from families using the program that also tracks absences, summarizes trends and offers interventions to get students back in school.
“So, we’re getting a leg up in the game,” Swatland. “It’s more communication than we’ve had before. If we don’t have a true partnership between the school and the community, then we’re not going to be successful.”
While he urges other districts to consider the technology, Cerrie-Allen recommends parents embrace it.
“It’s both of us being responsible to each other, keeping each other in the loop,” said Cerrie-Allen. “It does show that the school is paying attention and they would like our children there. And if they’re not, they’d like to know why. It holds parents accountable, too.”
