Here comes the Beast! Toms River finds fun way to beat post-COVID school absenteeism

TOMS RIVER - A portable speaker blared Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" as Toms River Intermediate North Assistant Principal Dave Fanslau wheeled a cart topped with a big black and silver trophy through C wing.

Principal Lynn Fronzak opened classroom doors so kids could get a glimpse of "The Beast," the three-tiered, chain-decorated attendance trophy fashioned this summer by Assistant Principal Brian Blake, who wanted to create a hulking metal reminder of the importance of getting to school each day.

Topped with a menacing, muscle-bound silver figure, "The Beast" is awarded each month to the classroom with the best attendance. It's part of a district-wide initiative aimed at increasing the number of kids who make it to class every day. On March 1, the trophy went to Sarah Dugan's cycle 613 class of sixth-graders, the school's first two-time attendance champions.

"If there’s a factor that gets overlooked when it comes to being able to provide and absorb a proper education, it’s chronic absenteeism, which is when a student misses 10% or more of the school year," Toms River Regional Superintendent Mike Citta said. "With only 180 days, missing 18 or more of them is a lot. You simply have to be at school to learn."

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School districts throughout the country have struggled with chronic absenteeism after COVID-19 kept schools closed for many months. Educators have blamed the pandemic for cutting the bonds connecting kids to school.

Since the pandemic, chronic absenteeism has soared in schools nationwide. Attendance Works, an organization that works with school districts to improve student attendance throughout the U.S., said that before the pandemic, about 8 million American students were chronically absent, missing at least 10% of school days. After COVID-19, that number more than doubled, according to the organization.

Students who frequently miss school fall behind in crucial skills like reading, writing and math, and also are more likely to drop out of high school, according to the federal Department of Education.

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Data released in April by the the New Jersey Department of Education revealed that statewide chronic absenteeism rate nearly doubled, from 10.6% to 18.1%, between 2018-2019, the last school year prior to the pandemic, and 2021-2022, the first full year since the pandemic began.

Toms River Regional Schools, the Shore’s largest district with more than 14,500 students, saw its chronic absenteeism jump from 12% to 21% in the past three years.

Citta said the district decided to "hyperfocus" on attendance this year, making it a district-wide goal to reduce chronic absenteeism. At summer retreats, staff and administrators focused on the reasons kids weren't coming to school, and collaborated on solutions to potential issues, he said.

Principals and supervisors reached out to parents of chronically absent kids to offer assistance with resources such as transportation that could help get children to school. The district created an awareness campaign to emphasize how important daily attendance is to student achievement, Citta said.

"We posted signs around every building, created 'selfie attendance boards' and encouraged schools and students to post photos, and extended this campaign to our website, social media channels and principals’ newsletters," he said. Building principals and supervisors were given leeway to institute unique attendance incentives for their students.

The overriding goal was to motivate students to want to come to school every day.

The district's efforts seem to be paying off: total absences in the district's 12 elementary schools numbered 33,217 through January, down about 16% from 39,498 during the same time period in the 2022-2023 school year.

The three intermediate schools counted 22,221 absences through January last year, and 18,637 through that month this year, down 16%. At Toms River's high schools, schools, 34,777 absences were reported through January last school year, compared to 30,200 this year, a decline of more than 13%.

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Citta said the district's school leaders have embraced the attendance challenge, creating unique incentives to impress on students and parents the importance of coming to class.

At Intermediate North, The Beast has been embraced by the kids, who decorated the metal trophy for Christmas and Valentine's Day, Blake said.

"It gave these kids an incentive," Fronzak said of the trophy. The classroom with the best attendance also gets a pizza party, with pizzas donated by Toms River's Papa John's restaurant.

On a recent Friday, The Beast traveled through the halls, accompanied by Fronzak, Blake and other central office staff. They were heading to Dugan's class of sixth-graders, but, along the way, teachers opened their doors so kids could see the trophy wheeling by.

When the The Beast at last reached Dugan's class, the kids danced to Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" and Queen's "We Are the Champions," and posed for pictures with the trophy; the class is the first two-time winner this year, Blake said. Some held up two fingers, indicating their win as repeat attendance champions.

Dugan herself was away her daughter's college swim meet, but permanent building substitute Barb Antolich had already texted her to tell her the good news. "They didn't think they won this time," Antolich said. She said the class calls her its good luck charm, as she was filling in for Dugan the last time they won.

Individual students at North with perfect monthly attendance also get their own pizza party; they get to share an hour of pizza and games with three friends in Intermediate North's Mentor Room, where they can play foosball, corn hole and other games, and watch TV.

Blake, who oversees North's attendance committee, decided he wanted to create a trophy this summer. He knew it had to be something big to impress the kids; his first effort "didn't look significant enough." After a trip to Home Depot, Blake created The Beast in his garage.

"It really took off," he said. "The staff laughs about it." He said during the COVID-19 pandemic, "kids lost their connection to school."

Fronzak added that kids got used to staying home, with some of them wearing pajamas while they participated in virtual classes. Blake said part of the attendance push has been reaching out to parents of chronically absent kids to stress the importance of regular attendance and to offer help, if needed.

Fronzak said coming to school regularly not only aids learning and socialization for students, but also teaches important life skills which kids will need when they move on to high school, college and the workforce.

Blake said adding "a little bit of silliness" to the all-important attendance efforts helped get the kids to buy in. Teachers and school staff have also embraced the monthly attendance contest; it's become fun for them, too, he said.

And Black's also become known for his goofy morning announcements; on the day The Beast trophy was awarded to Dugan's class, Blake lauded North students for achieving 96% attendance in February, edging out rival Intermediate South for the middle-school crown.

"That's better than finding a $20 bill in the lint screen of your dryer!" he exclaimed.

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and writes about issues related to Superstorm Sandy. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle,  jmikle@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River uses the Beast to fight post-COVID school absenteeism