Governor Kotek Joins Bend-La Pine Community to Encourage School Attendance

Bend, OR – On Saturday morning, Governor Tina Kotek attended a phone bank hosted by Silver Rail Elementary School, the Bend-La Pine School District, and the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to encourage regular school attendance. She was joined by ODE Director Dr. Charlene Williams, ODE Deputy Director Dr. Candice Castillo, State Board of Education (SBE) Vice-Chair Shimiko Montgomery, Bend City Council Member Stephen Platt, community members, and district and school staff.

Attendees made 423 phone calls in total and wrote over 316 postcards. They called and wrote to families of students enrolled in the Bend-La Pine School District to talk about the importance of regular school attendance and celebrate good attendance habits being established early in the school year. The students on the call list had previously been categorized as chronically absent, but have since become regular attenders. A regular attender is defined by ODE as a student who attends 90% or more of school days.

"Daily school attendance really matters for students — for learning new skills, building friendships, and discovering what excites them," Governor Kotek said. "The phone bank was a chance to thank families and celebrate their children’s success on being in school. I heard from parents directly about what’s working for their students, from great teachers to engaging extracurricular activities. I’d like to thank all the dedicated educators and community leaders who step up for our kids. School attendance is a team effort!”

“Building strong attendance habits starts early, and it takes all of us working together,” said ODE Director Dr. Charlene Williams. “Events like this one highlight how schools, families, and community organizations can unite to celebrate progress and keep students engaged, supported, and excited to learn.”

Chronic absenteeism is often driven by economic issues like transportation challenges, limited access to health care and housing instability. Schools cannot address these issues alone and rely on partnerships between families, educators and community members to target the root causes of absenteeism.

At Bend-La Pine, community organizations like Better Together and the Boys and Girls Club of Bend have answered that call by providing the community with wrap-around services and outreach to families. Elementary schools across the district have seen positive improvements in their regular attender rates, with a majority of their elementary schools having higher rates than the state average in 2023-24. A strong example is Juniper Elementary School, with a regular attender rate of 76.4 percent for the 2023-24 school year, a gain of 10.4 percentage points from the 2022-23 school year and 19 percentage points from the 2021-2022 school year.

“After-school programs like the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bend are recognized by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) as tremendous partners in helping students thrive,” Bri Slusser, Interim CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Bend, said. “The mentorship and support these programs offer demonstrate to children that they matter, which in turn fosters the strong relationships that keep them engaged and create a space for meaningful learning and growth inside and outside the traditional classroom.”

“Community-based organizations play a critical role in student success by connecting schools, families, and local resources,” Gabriele Peden, Executive Director of Better Together, said. “When students and families feel supported and heard, they show up, not just to school, but to a community that belongs to them. Strong partnerships between schools and organizations like ours are essential to building the trust that helps every student thrive.”

Throughout the year, ODE provides schools and partners with tools to build relationships with families and help families establish routines to support regular attendance. Resources include:

• A monthly virtual learning series for educators, community partners and state leaders
• A yearlong planning guide for district and school leaders
• An attendance tracker that families can customize and print to monitor attendance throughout the year
• External resources to connect families with needed support

For a full list of resources, visit every-day-matters.org.

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