Staff members and parents in Columbiana County’s Crestview School District will meet Tuesday night to share their ideas on ways to reduce the system's high rate of absenteeism.

As of last week, the district recorded 266 absences since in-person classes resumed last month.  At the time, the schools reported 43 confirmed communicable diseases, including 27 COVID-19 cases and sixteen instances of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease during the first thirteen days of school.

The school's website reports 48 cases among students and staff for the past month. All but five of those cases were students.

When classes resumed after Labor Day, 22% of the students were absent. School officials say that the normal absentee rate is about 5%.

Parents, students, board, and staff members will attend a Superintendent Advisory Meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 14 at the school’s Performing Arts Center to brainstorm ideas to solve the absentee problem.

Among the topics of discussion will be the best ways of accomplishing in-person learning, and at what point does the school move to remote learning.