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School attendance has bounced back in Connecticut. Leaders hail LEAP program
The program has expanded to 25 districts and now receives a $7 million state budget line item, officials said.
- Governor Lamont celebrated LEAP's five-year anniversary on Wednesday, highlighting the Learner Engagement and Attendance Program's success in reducing chronic absenteeism to 16.4% this past school year.
- Connecticut's LEAP model pairs trained home visitors with families to address attendance barriers, using monthly data collection from the Connecticut State Department and Regional Education Service Centers to identify at-risk students.
- Absenteeism dropped from 23.7% in 2021-2022 to 16.4%, representing approximately 35,000 more students attending school regularly, according to Attendance Works CEO Hedy Chang, who has worked with Connecticut since LEAP's inception.
- Chang noted that rising food prices, housing insecurity, and ICE raids continue affecting attendance, while budget cuts following the One Big Beautiful Bill Act have reduced federal health and nutrition programs.
- Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker set a statewide chronic absenteeism target of 6%, describing it as ambitious but achievable; with $7 million in the state budget, LEAP now serves 25 districts with plans to expand further.
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School attendance has bounced back in Connecticut. Leaders hail LEAP program
It began in 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic: an effort, backed by federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, to get Connecticut students back in school amid a spike in chronic absenteeism.
·New York, United States
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CT Department of Education reports decline in chronic absenteeism
Students work in a classroom.(Eric Thayer / AP)A new report from the Connecticut Department of Education shows that students are attending school more often.It’s been five years since the state first implemented the Learner Engagement and Attendance Program or LEAP. It's a statewide program that launched in 2021 to combat chronic absenteeism following the COVID-19 pandemic.Ajit Gopalakrishnan is the Chief Performance Officer for the State Depart…
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Total News Sources8
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution62% Center
Bias Distribution
- 62% of the sources are Center
62% Center
L 38%
C 62%
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