Should kids be paid CASH to attend school? Surprising ways teachers are confronting epidemic of skipping class

Paying students cold hard cash to stop them from skipping class?

That's what one school district did to keep pupils from playing hooky. 

The truancy crisis still gripping U.S. schools years after COVID-19 lockdowns is prompting teachers to look for new ways to lure disengaged students back into the classroom.

In Oakland, California, chronic absenteeism jumped from 29 percent before the pandemic to 53 percent in the 2022-2023 year across district and charter schools, the Associated Press reported.

When school officials asked kids what would get them to class, they said money would help.

A grant program launched last year handed students $50 a week if they had perfect attendance. The program also set aside money for students to have daily check-ins with an assigned adult and weekly mental health assessments.

Zaia Vera, the Oakland Unified School District's head of social-emotional learning, said giving students what is essentially an allowance isn't a permanent or sustainable fix, but noted that 'money is the hook that got them in the door.'

Flerentin "Flex" Jean-Baptiste, 16, missed 30 days during his first year of school at Medford High just outside Boston. His attendance turned around the following year when his principal introduced recess for students who went to all of their classes

Vera added that many frequently absent students lack stable housing or help financially support their families.

She said more than 60 percent of program participants improved their attendance and that the initiative is expected continue.

According to data compiled by the AP and Stanford University, a staggering 25 percent of students were chronically absent during the 2022-2023 school year, meaning they missed at least 10 percent of days.

That's about 12 million children across 42 states and Washington, D.C., where data was available. 

Only 15 percent of students missed that much school prior to the pandemic.

Elsewhere in California, educators are also using novel approaches to coax students in.

Zaia Vera, the Oakland Unified School District's head of social-emotional learning

At Fort Miller Middle School in Fresno, where half of students were chronically absent, students had told officials that they skipped school because their clothes were dirty and they had no transportation.

So, the school bought a washer and dryer for families to use, along with a Chevy Suburban to pick up kids who missed the bus.

The city's chronic absenteeism dropped to 35 percent.

Melinda Gonzalez, 14, missed the bus about once a week and would call a ride in the Suburban when she had to.

'I don't have a car; my parents couldn't drive me to school,' Gonzalez told the AP. 'Getting that ride made a big difference.' 

Melinda Gonzalez, 14, poses at Fresno High School

In an effort to get more kids to school, Fresno's Fort Miller Middle School bought a washer and dryer for families to use, along with a Chevy Suburban to pick up kids who missed the bus

Outside Boston, one student missed so much school that he had to repeat his freshman year.

Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, of Medford High, was absent 30 days his first year, calling school 'frustrating' because 'you do the same thing every day.'

The 16-year-old wasn't alone in skipping school, so the principal decided to let students play organized sports during lunch if they attended all their classes.

In other words, she was giving them recess - something usually reserved for elementary and middle schools.

'It gave me something to look forward to,' said Jean-Baptiste, who cut his absences in half the following year.

Across the entire school, chronic absences declined from 35 percent in March 2023 to 23 percent in March 2024, representing one of biggest improvements among Massachusetts high schools.