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�պ����� Health Network pediatrician Heidi Schumacher, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the Larner College of Medicine and a member of Larner’s Vermont Child Health Improvement Program team, was interviewed by WCAX-TV for a story on Vermont schools struggling with a byproduct of the pandemic—chronic absenteeism.

Schumacher is part of a team at the  that’s researching ways to help decrease chronic absenteeism in schools, particularly in rural areas. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days for any reason.

“Is it a health concern? Is it transportation, housing, child care? Instead of schools and health care trying to address those challenges in their own silos, we can work together as one team to wrap around those families,” she said. “Every single day at school matters.”

The partnership between health professionals and educators doesn’t just benefit student growth, she said. “When we are able to support regular attendance for every child, we are able to also support the economic viability of communities.”

Schumacher was recently awarded a $250,000 implementation grant from the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships to leverage cross-sector partnerships to advance health and educational equity across rural Vermont.