Whirlpool program offers clean clothes to combat chronic absenteeism in schools

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Rhode Island Department of Education is taking a closer look at chronic absenteeism this year and searching for ways to lower the rates across the state.

One American appliance company believes there might be a solution to students missing school that most wouldn’t think of — laundry machines.

Officials say there are a lot of reasons students might miss classes; bad grades, bullying, housing issues — any number of things can come together to keep students out of school.

But one program from the home appliance company, Whirlpool, called Care-Counts, is trying to address a reason for missing school that is not often discussed.

“Not having access to clean clothes is one of them. And after we read that we were really curious and just started talking to some public teachers around our area and across the nation and we actually found out that one in five students struggles to have access to clean clothes,” Whirlpool’s Brand Marketing Leader Nelly Cecilia Martinez. 

Chronic absenteeism is defined as when a student misses 10% of classes during the school year, something the Rhode Island Department of Education has heavily emphasized recently.

Governor Dan McKee also declared this school year will have a stronger focus on attendance.

“This is going to be the year of attendance in our schools throughout the state of Rhode Island,” Governor McKee said.

“We can’t expect our children to do well in math and English tests if they’re not in the classroom to learn the material that the teachers are presenting to them,” McKee continued.

The “Care-Counts” program puts laundry machines into schools for students and is already off the ground in southern New England.

Right now, it’s at Achievement First Providence Elementary, Young Woods Elementary in Providence and Henry Lord Elementary in Fall River and Martinez says the program makes a big difference to kids.

“We hear from the teachers that when kids don’t have clean clothes, they know they are maybe smelly or they’ve been using the same tee-shirt for a couple of days, their confidence drops,” Martinez continued.

“So, having clean clothes also boosts their confidence in ways that allows them to learn more and be more social,” Martinez concluded.

According to the RIDE attendance tracker, both Achievement First and Young Woods have seen absenteeism drop in the past year.

Whirlpool staff said they’re hoping to expand by 10 schools every year, with an addition in Connecticut planned for the upcoming school year.

For more information on the “Care-Counts” program, visit Whirlpool’s website.