A half dozen Salem parents got a surprise phone call Tuesday evening thanking them for their efforts to get their kids to school regularly. On the other end of the line was Gov. Tina Kotek, who sat at a long table with a dozen educators in the library at Waldo Middle School. “Thank you for being so supportive, for making sure she’s up and ready and going to school every day,” Kotek told one parent. The phone bank is part of a push this year by educators and politicians in Salem and across Oregon to boost the number of students who are regularly in class. Attendance rates were a challenge for educators pre-pandemic, and cratered as students returned to school buildings in 2021. In the Salem-Keizer School District, just half of students attended school regularly during the school year ending in 2023. The state education department will release updated data later this month. Kotek and Charlene Williams, the state schools chief, see turning that trend around as a key part of their larger goal to improve the state’s dismal numbers on literacy and math. Williams also made phone calls Tuesday. State test data released earlier this month showed just 39% of Oregon third graders can read English at their grade level. In Salem-Keizer, the number was 24%. “If they’re not here, they can’t learn,” Kotek said at the start of the phone bank. Charlene Williams, director of the Oregon Department of Education, dials a parent during a phone bank to promote school attendance at Waldo Middle School on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Students who attend school regularly are more likely to graduate high school. Educators say building habits of good attendance early in elementary school, and early in each school year, sets students up for success later on. Calls targeted parents whose students had good attendance so far this school year — at least 90% — and who had improved that number by at least 10 percentage points from last year. The hope, district officials said, was to recognize improvement and reinforce good attendance habits early in the school year. The effort included about two dozen district administrators, educators, school board members, union leaders and State Rep. Tracy Cramer, who sat at tables in the library at Waldo Middle School, calling families and writing postcards in English and Spanish. In total, the group made 265 calls and wrote almost 300 postcards. “Sometimes people don’t recognize the hard work our families are putting in. That makes a difference,” Kotek said. District officials last month launched an “Attendance Matters” campaign intended to boost the share of students attending school regularly in Salem. The state Department of Education is promoting an “Every Day Matters” campaign with similar messages, trying to educate families about the importance of being in school regularly and enlisting community help to keep kids on track. Williams said positive reinforcement and making sure students know adults at school value their presence is important. “They may miss, but they may not know they are missed,” Williams said at Tuesday’s event. Many schools in Salem, including Waldo, have dedicated outreach workers who focus on attendance. They look at data to identify students who aren’t coming to school regularly and reach out to see if the school can help. Gov. Tina Kotek speaks to Salem educators during a phone bank to promote school attendance at Waldo Middle School on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Oregon law requires families to send kids to school, but lawmakers in 2021 removed truancy fees that penalized parents whose kids don’t attend school. Kotek and Williams indicated little interest in reviving those penalties, saying they’re not likely to be effective for families who are already struggling. “Setting expectations is important,” Kotek said. “First we need to try the practices we know work.” Kotek said she and Williams are “both impatient” to see results on both the attendance campaign and larger efforts to improve struggling Oregon schools. Other efforts include cutting down the number of separate reports and grant applications district leaders have to write to get state money for school operations — something that consumes significant administrative time.  Kotek said she wants to talk to legislators about the need to both boost school funding and stop creating new programs or mandates for districts so they can focus on the basics of education. “We’re trying to be a better partner — make your job easier, don’t give you anything new and be like, ‘Get this stuff done,’” Kotek said. Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Good school attendance gets some Salem families a phone call from the governor appeared first on Salem Reporter.