Georgia has posted five straight years of declining chronic absenteeism — falling to 17.7% in the 2025–26 school year — which is real progress. However, the state’s own data show there’s still real ground to make up. Senate Bill 123 has raised the bar for how districts are required to respond. Every district with elevated absenteeism now must stand up a formal attendance review team and GaDOE's new Attendance Dashboard puts that progress in public view for the first time this school year.
This session brings together district leaders who are building that infrastructure right now, alongside the statewide school social work perspective on what's actually working — and what still needs to be done. You'll hear from DeKalb County School District, Harris County School District, and Walker County School District about how they are approaching attendance-team infrastructure day-to-day and how Cartwheel's School Avoidance Program fits into the tiered support systems Georgia is now requiring.
What You'll Learn
- How two Georgia districts are structuring attendance-team infrastructure to meet SB 123's requirements in practice.
- What's driving Georgia's statewide progress on chronic absenteeism and where the state's data shows districts still have work to do.
- How a clinical intervention like Cartwheel's School Avoidance Program fits into an MTSS-based attendance strategy.
- Which Georgia's state-funded mental health grants can support your district.
