Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sonia Dinnall speaks about the School Department’s use of an AI-powered text program that alerts parents to student absences.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield schools and families have another tool to ensure students are not derailed by chronic absenteeism. Last year, Central High School piloted an artificial intelligence-powered program that sends parents and guardians a text message when their student is absent and uses the responses to determine reasons for the absence and underlying issues. The attendance platform is being rolled out across the city this school year.
San Francisco-based company Edia promotes its attendance platform of the same name as an easier way to communicate with families. The program contacts parents and guardians by text message, alerting them to their students’ absences. The text conversation allows the platform to capture the reason for the absence and any pertinent documentation, and flag students for staff follow-ups when needed. Edia is in use in about 300 school districts with more than 1 million students nationwide.
Central High School Principal Tad Tokarz said families have expressed “nothing but gratitude” for the platform. In the past, he said parents and guardians have been surprised to learn their child had been absent. Since piloting the Edia platform, families are no longer being caught unaware, he said. “It’s just another layer of intervention,” Tokarz said. Since its implementation, attendance is up by about 2%, chronic absenteeism is down 4% and the overall course pass rate is up about 5%.
“We could not staff a department to do what this program does and do it as efficiently,” Tokarz said. Edia interfaces with Power School to excuse some absences, while flagging others for intervention if the conversation with parents reveals certain reasons behind absences, such as bullying, transportation or family issues.
Superintendent Dr. Sonia Dinnall said the causes behind chronic absenteeism vary from student anxiety or trauma in their home to students who are acting as translators for their parents or whose guardians do not have the resources to support their student getting to school each day. In addition to alerting families to an absence, she said the program allows the schools to help families who are struggling.
Assistant Superintendent of Family and Community Engagement Jose Escribano said chronic absenteeism is a problem for school districts across the country. Despite making gains, rates of chronic absences have not returned to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels. He said research supports the efficacy of parental text alerts as a method of curtailing absenteeism. Further, he said the automated nature of the platform means that families can be alerted to a student’s attendance without requiring teachers to devote time to making phone calls home.
Mayor Domenic Sarno stated in a press release, “I am very appreciative of Superintendent Dr. Dinnall’s and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jose Escribano’s continued efforts on this important initiative. My line has always been, ‘you need to show up to move up.’ This effort would ‘nip in the bud’ our students being in the wrong place at the wrong time instead of being in school, which would lead to more positive outcomes.”
Edia has developed a “great partnership” with the city, said Edia co-founder and CEO Joe Philleo. “There’s a lot of questions about AI right now, you know, how it should be used … And this partnership is a great example of that done well.” He said the AI addresses the surface level matters, while referring issues to educators, as needed. He said the platform can “change student lives.”
Sarno commented, “This is the good AI.”
School Committee member Rosa Valentin said the tool will make communication easier and praised the multilingual nature of the interface. Drawing on her experience as a 30-year teacher in Springfield schools, she said, “Behind every absence there is a challenge, or there is a reason.”
The three-year contract for the platform will cost $168,527 in the first year and $157,457 in each of the two subsequent years, which Dinnall said is “quite economical.” She said there is an option for the School Department to renew the contract annually in the future if it bears fruit.
