Baltimore educators tackle absenteeism by becoming community health workers

Two Baltimore City teachers say health challenges kept many of their students out of school, contributing to chronic absenteeism.

Last year, with support from Johns Hopkins’ nonprofit Medicine for the Greater Good, they became the first in the district to be trained as community health workers.

Health concerns fuel chronic absenteeism

“The whole culture surrounding COVID kind of exacerbated an issue that was already there,” said LaShawn McClary, who teaches health and library studies at Armistead Gardens Elementary School.

That issue was chronic absenteeism. McClary and Kendra Summers, who teaches at Maree G. Farring Elementary/Middle School, said illnesses, asthma and other health conditions were keeping students home.

“We have a really high asthma rate in our school,” Summers said.

Both teachers pointed to limited community resources as another factor.

“We are in a unique neighborhood of Baltimore City. Brooklyn is geographically isolated and lacks access to key services,” Summers said.

Teachers take on new health roles

Through their training, the teachers learned how to help families overcome health barriers.

“As a community health worker, my goal is to not just see my students’ needs but also look beyond that and see their parents’ needs,” McClary said.

Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, co-director of Medicine for the Greater Good, said teachers are ideal leaders for this work.

“These teachers are so close to the problems and they know the solutions, but they’ve been the furthest from the interventions that will work,” he said. “I’m excited because this reminds me of community-led interventions for community problems with community solutions.”

The initiative builds on previous efforts with faith-based organizations. The pandemic, Galiatsatos said, underscored the need for school-based health outreach.

“They put families in the seats and talk about health topics that matter to them,” he said. “All I’m trying to do is organize this so they not only hear the problem but also have access to solutions.”

Putting solutions into action

At Armistead Gardens, the school has distributed fresh food and taught families how to make DIY air filters.

At Farring, Summers organized asthma education sessions, distributed inhaler spacers and held a back-to-school immunization clinic.

She said the efforts are already having an impact.

“I had kids being excluded from school due to being out of compliance for immunizations,” Summers said. “Now, I have 40 families that are not going to be out of compliance that I don’t have to worry about this coming school year.”

Farring’s absenteeism rate dropped 18% in one year.

With the new school year approaching, Galiatsatos said the educators will begin an apprenticeship. His long-term goal is to place at least one community health worker in every Baltimore City school.