Edia's attendance software works by connecting to a school’s existing student information system (SIS) for real-time attendance updates, along with parent phone numbers and language preferences. When an unexpected absence is entered in the SIS, within 15 minutes the AI tool sends a detailed outreach text to the student's parents, automatically translating between more than 100 languages as necessary, the company’s website states.
Chronic absenteeism has been a problem in schools across the U.S. since the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing from 15 percent in 2018 to 26 percent in 2023, according to an online data tracker from the nonprofit think tank American Enterprise Institute. Given this rise in the number of students who are chronically absent, it can be difficult for school administrators to perform adequate outreach on their own, according to Edia CEO Joe Philleo.
“With so many students missing school, staff don’t have the capacity to reach out to every single family and understand what is happening with their child,” he said in a public statement.
The Edia tool queries parents about their child’s absence, updating it to “excused” in the SIS if they respond with a reason the student missed school and provide any needed documentation, such as a doctor’s note. If parents do not respond to consecutive text messages, or if other issues — such as bullying or lack of transportation — come up in the exchange, the conversation is flagged for staff follow-up.
The platform also creates student attendance profiles to track days missed and keep all related texts, calls and notes in one place. This can help administrators gain insight on emerging attendance problems and coordinate timely interventions, according to Raton Public Schools Superintendent Kristie Medina, who is implementing Edia's attendance software in her own New Mexico school district this month.
“The integration of AI into tracking and improving attendance will be a game-changer, especially when tackling chronic absenteeism,” Medina said in a public statement. “By leveraging AI, the district can gain deeper insights into attendance patterns, identify at-risk students earlier and tailor interventions more effectively.”
