COUPEVILLE: Schools plan to boost attendance
Marina Blatt reports from the Coupeville School Board’s meeting of Thu., Oct. 30, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.
Summary by Perplexity.ai
Attendance in the Coupeville School District has fallen sharply since the pandemic, with test scores dropping alongside. Superintendent Shannon Leatherwood and the school board are concerned and launched a plan under the Washington State School Improvement Framework to raise attendance by 10% and boost achievement with evidence-based interventions. Recent attendance data show rates well below pre-pandemic norms and slightly below the state average. The district plans early intervention for absences, barrier removal for families, and more engaging instruction, aimed at helping all students. Board members and educators are optimistic, believing strong support and a comprehensive, holistic approach can restore pre-pandemic attendance and scores.
They Said It
“Like districts across Washington state and the nation, we’ve experienced significant attendance challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic,” Coupeville Superintendent Shannon Leatherwood wrote in an email to the News-Times.
“This represents a 20-25 percentage point decline across all schools — a trend mirrored nationally,” she wrote in an email.
Leatherwood noted that her concerns are rooted in research that shows that missing just 10% of school days causes a significant detriment to student achievement, with its effects worsening over time.
This is consistent with the school district’s scores; while it is above the state average for English language arts standardized test scores, it is still not at the level it should be compared to school districts of similar size and demographics, Leatherwood said in a meeting. Similarly, the middle and high school ranks below the state average in some areas of its math scores, she added. While this reflects a nationwide drop in scores, the Coupeville School District’s decrease is significant, she said.
“For our size district and our demographics, this is concerning,” she said. “We’re not considered one of the high poverty schools so we should be consistently above the state average in both ELA and math.”
The district intends to implement new strategies for success, Leatherwood outlined.
“When students find learning engaging and connected to their lives, attendance improves naturally,” Leatherwood told the News-Times.
Getting emotional after Leatherwood’s presentation of the matter, Board President Morgan White said while she knows it won’t be easy, she is hopeful for the goals that Leatherwood designed for the district’s future. Nancy Conard, the vice president, agreed, noting that in her four years of serving on the board, she has not seen this kind of effort nor assessment.
“We’re gonna get there,” Conard said.
