Dive Brief:
- New York City Public Schools, the nation's largest school district, will place liaisons in all of its school buildings to address students' "school avoidance" or "school refusal." The student behavior contributes to chronic absenteeism levels, and is marked by regular resistance to school as a result of emotional distress, according to the School Avoidance Alliance.
- The liaison will be tasked with identifying and responding to school avoidance behaviors in addition to mental health and psychological barriers to attendance, according to details released last week by the Legal Aid Society and law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
- The two groups were embroiled in a federal lawsuit against the district since 2024 over a lack of educational supports available to students with disabilities who experience school avoidance. As a result, the district is now collaborating with the groups to launch the liaison program.
Dive Insight:
Chronic absenteeism soared in the wake of COVID-19, and students with disabilities nationwide were particularly affected during the pandemic by the lack of available services needed to continue a free and appropriate public education during distance learning.
Anecdotes suggested that lawsuits against districts across the U.S. ticked up from various student groups who alleged they were not receiving the proper accommodations to equitably continue their education, including from students with disabilities.
According to data published in the National Library of Medicine in 2022, school refusal affects up to 15% of youth. It can be a result of anxiety, depression, sleep problems or other emotional distress.
These student behaviors may begin gradually — such as students pretending to be sick or having a meltdown before the school day — and then turn into a consistent pattern disrupting academic progress, family routines and emotional wellbeing, according to the School Avoidance Alliance.
The 2022 research said that schools should focus on increasing attendance "by providing support in areas of academic achievement, social interactions, emotional distress and teacher-student relations."
"Importantly, school avoidance isn't about laziness or manipulation," the School Avoidance Alliance says on its website. "Their distress is real, and their behavior is often a coping mechanism for something deeper."
According to the lawsuit filed against New York City Public Schools in October 2024, students with disabilities in the nation's largest district were particularly affected by school avoidance. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of New York City parents and students, alleged that the district didn't have in place a system to identify and evaluate the phenomenon, thereby denying students a right to public education.
The district entered into an agreement to resolve the lawsuit, working in collaboration with the suing parties to come up with a plan, the law firm representing students and parents said.
"This agreement enhances our citywide framework by improving early identification, expanding family partnerships, and establishing a dedicated School Avoidance Liaison in every school to coordinate timely, student-centered supports," said Onika Richards, deputy press secretary for NYC Public Schools, in an Aug. 13 emailed statement to K-12 Dive. "By doing this, we are creating school environments where students feel connected, supported, and ready to learn."
In addition to requiring a liaison in every school building, the agreement requires the district to:
- Provide annual professional development to designated staff so they may recognize avoidance and provide student support.
- Create standardized school guidance on family outreach and engagement when school refusal is identified.
- Encourage individualized "attendance success plans" for families to address attendance barriers.
- Provide flexibility in special education evaluations, like allowing certain psychological updates to be conducted remotely or permitting alternative evaluation locations for students whose disabilities prevent school attendance.
- Monitor districtwide implementation of the program and track school compliance.
About 46% of students with disabilities were chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year, according to data from the district cited by The Legal Aid Society. The settlement requires the district to focus on identifying systemic disability-related barriers and connect affected students with appropriate supports and services.
“Students whose disabilities make it difficult to attend school deserve individualized supports that address the root causes of their absences, not just the absences themselves,” said Susan Horwitz, director of the Education Law Project at The Legal Aid Society, in an Aug. 6 statement. “The longer students experiencing school avoidance are out of school, the more difficult it becomes to help them return.”
The district is required by the agreement to create materials for districts and school staff to implement the program by Jan. 1, 2027, according to Chalkbeat's reporting.
