The Shawnee Mission School District is working to meet a goal of lowering chronic absences down from 22% of students in each school to 12%  by the end of this year. To meet the goal East is using preventative approaches, such as truancy warning letters, checking in with students when patterns in lack of attendance begin and positive reinforcement when attendance is achieved. Senior Hartley Graham is a chronically absent student at East and received a letter in the mail from the school warning her on Oct. 8 that she was almost truant after missing 46 class periods this year. The letter outlined that proof of documentation, such as a doctor’s note would be required if Graham were to miss any more school this semester. The majority of Graham’s absences are due to her Eosinophilic Esophagitis — an allergic condition that causes the esophagus to become inflamed and not contract properly. After the letter, Graham gave the attendance office a doctor’s note, but she’s also now making an effo...