LANSING, Mich — As a new school year kicks off, the Lansing School District is celebrating major improvements in student attendance—while doubling down on efforts to keep the momentum going.
- Lansing School District improved daily attendance from 71% in 2021 to 86% in the 2024–2025 school year, according to district officials.
- Chronic absenteeism dropped by 32%, showing significant progress in keeping students consistently in school.
- The district's strategy includes personalized outreach—such as phone calls, texts, and home visits—to remove barriers to attendance.
- Deputy Superintendent Jessica Benavides emphasizes making attendance a community-wide priority, involving administrators, teachers, and families.
WATCH:“Whatever it takes”: Lansing School District continues to work toward higher attendance rates
I stopped by the office of Deputy Superintendent Jessica Benavides to learn more about the district’s priorities and the action plan guiding their ongoing success.
“Often, there are barriers that come into play, and we want to make sure we're working with families to break down any of those barriers,” said Benavides.
But before students can thrive in the classroom, she emphasized, they have to be in the classroom.
“Students, if they've missed five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten days of school—often feel like it's much harder to re-engage. They worry about falling behind academically, or what their friends will think,” she explained.
From kindergarten through 12th grade, Lansing schools rely on in-person, interactive instruction to drive learning outcomes. But just a few years ago, attendance was one of the district’s biggest challenges.
In 2021, the district reported a daily attendance rate of just 71%. Today, that number has jumped to 86% for the 2024–2025 school year, according to district officials.
“That’s a great improvement,” I noted during our conversation. “Talk to me about some of the tactics that helped get kids back into school.”
“The first thing is making sure everybody knows it's a priority—from administrators to teachers to families. Just knowing that we want kids in school makes a big difference,” said Benavides.
The district has also achieved a 32% decrease in chronic absenteeism—defined as missing 18 or more school days in a year.
And as students begin the new school year, Benavides says their attendance action plan remains unchanged.
“We’re doing phone calls, texts, home visits—whatever it takes.”
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