Students with Minimal or No Contact During COVID-19 School Facility Closures

Over the past three months there has been widespread media coverage regarding students that South Carolina schools have been unable to reach or have not turned in any work during COVID-19 school facility closures. Original estimates of students for which schools had received little or no work or had little or no contact ranged anywhere from three to six percent of South Carolina’s 782,638 public school students.

On June 3, 2020 the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) surveyed the principals of the state’s 1,272 schools in an effort to get a more accurate count of the students schools had been unable to connect with. The survey results and subsequent additional reporting as of July 24, 2020 show that schools have not been able to connect with approximately 3,557 students or 0.5% of the public school system student population. The responses from principals also provided important information as to why the COVID-19 pandemic has caused difficulty in contacting students and their families and the lengths that schools have gone through to make contact. It is important to note that the SCDE does not regularly collect this data from school districts so no statewide baseline is available to differentiate normal school year activity from this new COVID-19 inspired data.

In many cases, students had moved or a personal circumstance such as student work, family health, at home internet connectivity, or a language barrier contributed to students and their families not responding to school attempts to contact them. Some schools noted that district grading policies and a view of COVID-19 school closures as time off contributed significantly to their inability to contact students and receive assigned school work. Almost every school indicated they had used a variety of means to contact students. An excerpt of the responses is included below.

What is the primary reason (or reasons) that schools have been unable to make contact with students? (Responses from principal survey)

The students knew the grade for the assignments could not harm them.
Contact was attempted and sometimes made, but parent follow-through was lacking in many cases.
Home internet connectivity issues.
Contact information no longer correct-changed phone numbers and/or addresses.
Lack of parent interest/support/skill or access to appropriate devices at home.
Student and parent work schedules prevent engagement.
Student moved or was staying with a relative in another area/location.
We were able to make contact with ALL families, but contact does not mean that they completed work. We provided internet access to all of our families that needed it. Most families struggled to juggle work and school work for their kids. Some families felt like it was just a break and didn't make their kids do any work.
Language barrier with parent (non-English speaking).
Many of our students needed to work to help support families.
Students were caring for sick parents or relatives.

In what ways have teachers and staff attempted to reach students who they have been unable to contact?

Email
Phone (call)
Phone (text)
Social media
Mail
Virtual classroom/communication (i.e. Learning Management System)
Home visit/check-in (includes involvement of school staff, local DSS, health providers, community partners, and law enforcement)

What other measures and protocols should schools follow when contacting students and their families?

Ensure detailed documentation is logged for any action taken and all communication had with regard to each student and family.
- Develop system for documenting and sharing these actions and communications which includes whether they were successful in making contact with the student and/or parent/legal guardian.
- Designated school/district outreach staff should coordinate with food drops and other in-person school and community initiatives to expand reach and promote awareness of the issue.
  - This strategy alone has been proven successful in many districts’ efforts to locate missing students.
Contact student/parent/guardian through multiple modes of communication:
- phone calls, voice, text, and video messages, email, regular mail; and
- Social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, GroupMe, etc.
Verify student still lives in district.
Develop plan to keep consistent contact with students.
- Weekly, biweekly, etc.
Work with community partners to post notices and share information regarding a school or school district outreach initiatives to attempt to re-connect with missing students.
- Messaging should include the importance of enrolling for the upcoming school year.
Seek assistance from community members and advocates who are representatives of the communities in which missing students reside.
Work with school faculty and any district staff such as student services, program coordinators, school social workers, homeless liaisons, parent liaisons, attendance clerks, school counselors, transportation, and food and nutrition staff to contact students.
- Review roster with faculty/staff to match faculty/staff with students they have an existing positive relationship to make the outreach less threatening.
- If student is identified as homeless, English learner migratory, or foster in PowerSchool, contact appropriate district-level staff, coordinators, and/or liaisons.
  - If student is identified as EL, contact the student’s ESOL teacher and/or district Title III coordinator for assistance.
  - If student is identified as homeless, contact the school/LEA homeless liaison(s) for assistance.
  - If student is identified as migratory, contact SCMEP, title1c@ed.sc.gov or 803-734-8219 for assistance.
  - If student is identified as foster, contact the district foster care liaison for assistance.
  - Make sure all school, district, and program communications, including websites and social media, regularly share information about services for students and families experiencing homelessness. Many new families and youth are likely to fall into homelessness due to current economic stressors. It is more important than ever to ensure that all parents and youth know about McKinney-Vento (MV) and related rights.
    - When posting notices of the rights of McKinney-Vento students, in the community in places where families and youth experiencing homelessness are likely to see them, include notices that invite students back to school, with phone and text information to make contact with a live staff member.
      - Include invitations in other common languages in the community.
      - Offer resources such as access to food as an incentive.
  - Reach out to shelter contacts regarding missing students.
    - Request shelter to post notices asking students to get in touch with their school along near the MV posters. Posters should include phone and text information to contact a live staff member.
    - Ensure shelter staff will share that schools/districts are concerned for the safety and wellbeing of each student; and it is not punitive.
    - Ensure shelter staff will share that MV information is confidential, and only shared on an as-needed bases.
  - Reach out to Continuums of Care (CoC) contacts regarding missing students.
    - Inquire if parent/student applied to CoC.
    - Inquire about new programs CoC may have referred applicants.
    - Inquire about other programs or agencies CoC may have referred applicants.
    - Request shelter to post notices, etc. (see above).
If no response after repeated attempts, contact those listed as an emergency contact for student.
If no response from emergency contact, turn names over to district’s Department of Alternative Programs.
- At this point, district personnel, social workers, school psychologists, and mental health workers should be involved. This would also be an appropriate time to contact local law enforcement or the Department of Social Services for additional support and resources.
- This shall include home visits by faculty, staff, social workers, etc.
  - District attendance coordinators should be involved in the process of locating students.
  - For district who have them, parent liaisons should be involved in the process of locating students.
  - Use school resource officer to help make wellness checks or home visits.
Additional Resources:
- Strategies for Connecting with Students and Families
- To Stay In Touch With Students, Teachers Bypass Computers, Pick Up Phones
- Truancy Guide
- “It is not acceptable to make minimal efforts to contact the parents to set up a meeting. Every reasonable effort must be made to meet with the parents, including phone calls and home visits, both during and after normal business hours, as well as written messages and e-mails if necessary. Reg. 43-274(III)(B). When meeting with parents, it is important to treat them with respect and, until proven otherwise, it should be assumed that the parents want their child to be in school.” (pg. 9)
- “Throughout the intervention process, school officials should carefully document all actions taken with and on behalf of the child and family.” (pg. 9)
- “When meeting with parents, it is important to treat them with respect and, until proven otherwise, it should be assumed that the parents want their child to be in school. Parents should be approached in a way that creates an atmosphere of concern and shows a willingness on the part of the school to help. This will set the tone for future dealings with the family and will convey to the parents the message.” (pg. 22)
- Due to the unique circumstances and barriers faced by homeless, migratory, EL, foster and other at-risk subgroups of students, it is less likely that such students will respond to unilateral communication and efforts from a school or LEA. Therefore, in-person field and community outreach is a critical component to establishing communication and building rapport with these vulnerable populations of students. Special considerations should be taken to ensure that communication is meaningful, interactions are conducted with cultural competency, and the intention is for student support and restoration.
- The following items/places are suggestions for locating students:
  - Summer camps
  - Annual registration
  - Military reassignments
  - Department of Juvenile Justice/County detention centers
  - Adult Education programs

South Carolina law requires that certain professionals report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect, because they have unique opportunities to observe and interact with children. For all information related to mandatory reporting, please visit https://dss.sc.gov/abuseneglect/mandated-reporters/.

What is the SCDE doing to help schools and districts in their outreach efforts?

The SCDE has taken the results of the school principal survey and cross referenced school level results with enrollment numbers to provide a percentage of students that schools have had little to no contact with. The SCDE has broken down the percentages into four categorical tiers with Tier 1 being the highest percentage grouping of schools and Tier 4 being the lowest.

Starting with Tier 1 schools the SCDE will provide hands on technical assistance to schools and districts through its state and federal program offices. These offices include staff who work regularly with special student populations that COVID-19 is known to have adversely impacted and who schools are regularly known to have difficulty reaching. These populations include migrant, homeless, English language learners, students with disabilities, students at risk, and students in poverty. The SCDE's staff who oversee family and community engagement efforts will also assist in efforts to involve local churches, nonprofits, and other organizations reach students through protocols approved by the local school and district.
SCDE program offices can facilitate statewide communication and coordinate with district coordinators. Depending on the situation, specific federal programs in the Office of Federal and State Accountability (OFSA) that may be of support to include:

McKinney-Vent Homeless Program
- Reach out to shelter contacts regarding missing students.
  - Request shelter to post notices asking students to get in touch with their school along near the MV posters. Posters should include phone and text information to contact a live staff member.
  - Ensure shelter staff will share that schools/LEAs are concerned for the safety and wellbeing of each student; and it is not punitive.
  - Ensure shelter staff will share that MV information is confidential, and only shared on an as-needed bases.
- Reach out to Continuums of Care (CoC) contacts regarding missing students.
  - Inquire if parent/student applied to CoC.
  - Inquire about new programs CoC may have referred applicants.
  - Inquire about other programs or agencies CoC may have referred applicants.
  - Request shelter to post notices, etc. (see above).
- Reach out to contacts at community agencies that assist local families/students in need.
- Develop and provide promotional materials for schools/LEAs.
Title III Language Acquisition for English Learners and Immigrants.
If the student is thought to be migratory, the SC Migrant Education Program (SCMEP) sub grantees and regional liaisons and recruiters can assist schools/LEAs with identifying and locating the student.
- Contact title1c@ed.sc.gov or 803-734-8219 for more information.
Foster Care – can reach out to state DSS Point of Contact to help locate students.
Neglected and Delinquent Program.

Use Student Unique Numbering System (SUNS) number for missing students to match to other systems that may lead us to student.

Match in PowerSchool for enrollment in other Local Education Agencies/schools
Match in PowerSchool for enrollment in DSS/Residential Treatment Facilities
Match in Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX) for migratory students
- Migratory students currently represent approximately 0.08% of the overall K-12 student population in SC
- However, if a student is identified as migratory, the SCMEP can check for enrollments in other districts and states through the national (MSIX) database.
Match in DSS (Foster, SNAP, TANF addresses)
Match in Medicaid for updated address
Match in Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database for HUD homeless services

The SCDE will also work in consultation with school districts to provide data to the South Carolina Department of Social Services and other state and federal agencies in an effort to identify students who may already be a part of their information systems and have case workers assigned to them. SCDE and the aforementioned state and federal partners will collaborate on actionable items from findings and work with school districts and local level agencies to conduct any needed follow-up.

Finally, the SCDE will continue to collect updated figures from school districts as summer and fall learning progress.

Student Contact Data by School District (as of 7/24/2020)