Bibb County Schools, United Way ‘walking school bus’ fights student absences. Does it work?

The walking school bus at L.H. Williams Elementary School doesn’t have any wheels or seats, but nonetheless is bolstering an important goal: reducing absenteeism.

The bus is not an actual bus, but a program where community members volunteer to stand at key points around the school to greet and check in with students and families as they make their way to school.

The goal of the initiative — which is a collaboration between Bibb County Schools and United Way of Central Georgia — is to support students and their families to combat chronic absenteeism, a major concern across the district.

Why absences are big problem for Bibb County

Beverly Wright, a teacher at L.H. Williams who also serves as United Way of Central Georgia’s site coordinator at the school, said students there face a number of challenges that make them more likely to miss school.

“There are plenty of barriers they face on the way to school, whether that’s walking to school and seeing debris, whether it’s just getting up,” Wright said. “Mom may have multiple children, they may be the only one walking, they may not have a coat to keep them from getting cold, it’s just a lot of different things.”

Chronic absenteeism is not a new issue for Bibb County. During the 2023-2024 school year, 28.6% of roughly 21,500 public school students in Macon were chronically absent, Jamie Cassaday, the district’s superintendent of student affairs, told the Telegraph in July. The U.S. Department of Education defines chronically absent as when a student misses 10% or more of the days in a school year for any reason.

Bibb County adheres to the Georgia Compulsory Attendance Law, which requires parents to enroll children between the ages of 6 and 16 in school and defines truancy as a student having five or more unexcused absences.

When a student has one to three absences, teachers contact parents. School counselors get involved after the third consecutive absence. If a student is absent for more than seven days, a social worker will make a home visit. Students who miss more than 10 days are referred to the district’s truancy task force.

“We are trying to do everything we can to prevent that,” Wright said.

Wright said students at L.H. Williams are especially likely to be absent from school after long breaks and asynchronous learning days, or on days when it’s cold.

On Thursday, when United Way of Central Georgia and the school invited media to observe the walking school bus in action, students walked in freezing temperatures after four days off from school and an asynchronous learning day. As they made their way towards L.H. Williams, members of the Macon Rampage developmental football program, who were volunteering with the program that day, greeted kids and gave them high-fives and encouragement.

Wright intentionally scheduled the walking school bus for Thursday, expecting a high number of absences. She hoped the anticipation of seeing the players and feeling the support of their teachers and community would encourage kids to come to school despite the break and the weather.

“It seems little, but it really means a lot,” Wright said. “It means a lot to (the students) to see that somebody’s telling (them), ‘Thank you for coming to school.’”

How does the walking school bus help?

The walking school bus program is part of United Way of Central Georgia’s Community Schools United program, which began in 2021 and partners with public schools in low-income neighborhoods to provide programs and resources for students, staff and families.

The walking school bus program first came to L.H. Williams Elementary School last year, according to an email from United Way of Central Georgia. Wright said it was in response to Bibb County Schools and United Way of Central Georgia taking notice of the school’s high rates of absenteeism.

Wright relies on volunteers to man the walking school bus. She recruits people and organizations to participate, and will often have a “mystery greeter,” a prominent figure in the community who meets the kids at the door but isn’t revealed until students arrive at school.

Wright said she gives hints to her students and encourages them to research, ask questions and work together to see if they can figure out who the mystery person is ahead of time. They must come to school on the day of the walking school bus to find out if they were correct.

“It’s about keeping the bond and the relationship that students have with their teachers, or the students have with other students,” Wright said.

After receiving positive feedback from the Pleasant Hill community, the neighborhood L.H. Williams serves, United Way of Central Georgia brought Wright as a site coordinator in November and made her the primary organizer of the walking school bus program.

Wright said the walking school bus is especially important to have at L.H. Williams because it serves a low-income area with mostly minority students. About 90% of L.H. Williams Elementary School’s students identify as Black or African American, according to numbers from U.S. News and World Report, and nearly all come from economically disadvantaged households.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, Black students and students who live in high-poverty areas are more likely to be chronically absent than more wealthy, white counterparts.

“We’re just having that boost to get them to school,” Wright said. “Absenteeism hurts them because they’re missing out on instruction.”