KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. –Kanawha County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paula Potter says she is proud of the collaboration that has helped reduce chronic absenteeism across the district.
The Kanawha County board of education received an update on the district’s chronic absenteeism rate during its meeting last Thursday.
Director of Attendance and Social Services Kim Legg told board members that the chronic absenteeism rate declined by nearly three percent between the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 school years, dropping from 20% to 17%. This drop in chronic absenteeism rates impacted approximately 700 students within Kanawha County.
“We’re super proud of all the work that our schools and communities are doing to bring attention to how important it is to be a school each day,” Potter said during an appearance on MetroNews Midday Friday.
Potter explained that chronic absenteeism is when a student misses more than 18 days or 10% of the school day itself.
Potter said everyone is working to identify the barriers students face and help them overcome them.
“We have multitudes of people working with families, once we identify one student who’s at risk, we try to figure out what those barriers are and then our schools put what we call three-tier process-in-place to help remove barriers at the schools,” she said.
“Potter said this has been a collaborative effort to ensure the system is effective. The three tiers include: Tier 1- support for all students, Tier 2 -early outreach, which involves working with students and families to address barriers, and Tier 3- involving the legal system when necessary
She explained that these barriers can vary and may include illness (when a parent decides whether to send their child to school), lack of transportation, or even access to clean laundry.
She said a Tier 1 response might involve supporting students who don’t want to come to school because they can’t wash their clothes. Potter explained that some schools are equipped with washers and dryers that students can use if needed, helping ensure they continue attending school.
She said they receive outside support, including from local businesses, some of which even donated shoes before the start of the school year.
She even said they get outside help as well. One company in particular, Mountain CARES, created a pilot program with Kanawha County Schools in order to tackle the transportation barrier for students on the counties eastern end.
Potter said that the company calls the families directly and helps take the students to school.
She added that they also work to find long-term solutions to support students.
“They also have an agreement with the families that the entire family is working with the Mountain CARES agency, to try and get better processes in place at home so that it’s a long-term fix, not a short-term fix,” Potter said.
She said it’s important for both parents and students to understand the value of school attendance for two key reasons.
“If there in the classroom, they have a better opportunity to receive instruction and learn,” Potter said. “Second to that, it’s a life skill to learn to show up on time, finish the day, all of those things that are important for you when you go to work.”
Potter, who has been on the job for a couple of months, says it’s been amazing so far and looks forward to working together to ensure these numbers continue growing.
“I’m very proud and honored to hold this position, and I just hope that the entire community will work with me to help our students be better,” she said.