Chronic absenteeism, it's a nationwide problem that Southern Nevada has had some success in reducing.

We'll explore how.

Plus... (Judy Woodruff) It pains me to know that there is less trust today and that some people don't want to talk to reporters.

They don't want to talk to the news media.

-PBS icon Judy Woodruff joins me to discuss an unprecedented time in our country and in her career.

That's this week on Nevada Week.

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

Nevada's swing state status is what recently brought Sarah Longwell to Las Vegas.

She's a Republican strategist who's conducting voter focus groups across the country.

And the focus group she held here was of particular interest to PBS' Judy Woodruff.

That's because its members voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and then for Joe Biden in 2020.

The veteran journalist made this focus group the focus of her latest episode in the series America at a Crossroads, and I had the honor of speaking with her about it.

So Judy, what stood out to you from what you heard here in Las Vegas?

-I would say, number one, the fact that Las Vegas voters, Nevada voters, are paying close attention to this election.

Every one of the voters who sat down with Sarah Longwell for these focus groups is paying close attention.

They have opinions about what's happening.

I was also struck by how many of them who switched their vote from Donald Trump in 2016 to Democrat, to Joe Biden in 2020, are sticking with him.

A few in each group, two in each group, said they were looking seriously at going back to voting Republican this time, which has to be of concern to the Democrats.

But in general, the ones who switched are sticking with it.

-Have you heard that in other places that you've traveled around the country?

-We have not, to be honest.

We have not been focused on this particular group of voters who are switching their view, who are, who are in a state that is already on the bubble.

Nevada is one of the key swing states.

We have not been looking at this particular swing group.

So this, to me, was all new.

-You've said that in your entire reporting career, right now is the most divided time in American politics that you have ever experienced and that part of the purpose of America at a Crossroads was to try and understand this moment in time.

What have you come to understand?

-One thing I've come to understand is that we are seriously divided and that the reasons for it are complex, that it clearly has to do with how our politics have changed, the way we-- the way we carry on elections, the way we carry on primaries, the fact that we are pushing voters farther to the side, to the edges, if you will, both Democrats and Republicans, through our primary system.

That clearly contributes to the divide.

It's also-- it also has to do with how people feel about the economy, how many Americans feel left out and don't feel government is listening to them.

There are still the overhang, if you will, of the 2008 financial collapse, people feeling-- many of whom either lost jobs themselves, they know people who lost jobs, or they don't feel they're able to keep up with the cost of living.

And that relates to the, not just the financial collapse of 2008, it relates to, certainly, the pandemic, what that did to the economy.

We're seeing that having a lingering effect on Americans as they vote in 2024.

We're also seeing the effect of the news media, the fact that so much of today's media is about the fight, the fact that there's one side and there's the other side and let's listen to them go at each other.

And that is being emphasized in what they see in the news and what they see in advertising.

It's what, certainly, what we see in social media.

So much of social media today is about one side going after and attacking the other side in a very, sometimes really vicious ways, because it's being done anonymously.

So that's part of it.

There's also a fact that many Americans just don't have time to follow the news, if you will, the mainstream news closely.

So all they hear is partisan news on one side or the other.

And many Americans are choosing only to listen to one side or another.

So they're listening to news that reinforces what they already think.

That contributes to division.

Religious beliefs, some of it has to do with people's ethnic background, you know, where they've grown up.

There's so many different factors, enough to make us understand that this is not going away quickly.

-That distrust in the media that exists right now, how does it compare to any other time in your career?

-It is the worst I've ever seen it.

It is-- it's not a brand new phenomenon.

We've seen it building over the years, but we are clearly at a place today, Amber, where many Americans tell us that they don't, they don't trust the media, the news media, as much as they used to.

They think the media is trying to sell them a particular point of view or that there's some conspiracy, some hidden hand at work in the news media.

Certainly, that's not the case with us at the NewsHour at all on PBS.

It's not the case with most of the mainstream media that I'm familiar with-- the Associated Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal.

It's not the case.

And yet, that's what people, many people say they believe.

-Personally, as a lifelong journalist, what is it like to hear that from the public?

-It's hard.

It's tough.

It's-- it pains me to know that there is less trust today and that some people don't want to talk to reporters.

They don't want to talk to the news media, because they think we're not on the level.

And so we have to work really hard every day, every story, every piece I do.

I work really, really hard.

My colleagues and I work really hard to make sure that we are getting our facts straight, that we're talking to people across the spectrum, just as we are with these voters.

These are voters from across the spectrum.

In other stories, we are talking to Trump voters.

We're talking to people who voted for Democrats, for Biden, for Hillary Clinton in the past.

We're trying to understand where people are coming from, how they're making their political decisions, what they're likely to do, how are they likely to vote, why, why not.

That's the main purpose of what we're doing, and we want people to be able to trust us.

So important.

-Another personal question: The division that politics has created among family and friends, have you experienced this firsthand?

-I would say not so much in my own family.

My children know that I'm a reporter, and they've long since learned it doesn't do any good to try to get me to tell them what I'm thinking about a particular candidate or a particular issue, because I try to keep it as much as I can.

-You don't share with your children?

-I try not to.

I absolutely-- they sometimes will tell me they can guess, but I think what's most important for me as a journalist is what I was taught in very early days.

I was working in a local news in Atlanta for a CBS station there, and I had a producer who said, Just remember, Judy, nobody gives a damn, he said, about what Judy Woodruff thinks.

What we want you to do is go out, take notes, cover the story, come back, and tell us what's going on.

And we don't want your opinion to play any role in your reporting.

And I've spent my career with that as my, as my, frankly, my central view.

-Well, I want to ask about George Stephanopoulos then.

You started this series with an interview with President Joe Biden.

That was 2023.

Fast forward, July 2024, he sits down with President Biden.

And afterward, he's out on the streets of New York.

Someone with a camera asks him, Do you think President Biden should step down?

And he says, I don't think he can serve four more years.

He later apologized for sharing his opinion publicly.

But I wonder, is there any responsibility for journalists to share this insight, especially in a situation involving the possible cognitive health of the President of the United States?

-My view is that if you're a reporter or if you're an anchor of a news program and your job is to convey news to the public, that you keep those views to yourself, personal views.

You report what other people are doing, are saying.

You interview people and ask their opinions, that's one thing, but it's not your job if you're a reporter or an anchor.

Now, different if you're a commentator, columnist, you're writing columns for a newspaper that are clearly labeled as opinion, or if you're a commentator, you're being interviewed on television, you're giving your opinion, and it's labeled as such.

That's different.

But if your job is to convey the news, I think it harms our credibility when we weigh in on one side or another.

I think we report what we see.

If George Stephanopoulos saw something in Joe Biden and he wanted to share that specific detail, that's one thing.

But I think to go a step further and to make the conclusion that someone should or shouldn't serve is-- that's a judgment call.

And I think that's up to the voter, and it's up to people who are paid to do commentary or who are paid to give their opinion.

-Did you consider interviewing former President Trump for America at a Crossroads?

-We have tried for a number of years, when I was anchoring the NewsHour, to have an interview with former President Trump.

We were never able to get one.

I pestered his team relentlessly.

And it was, it was always something that they, you know, they would come back and say, We would like to get back to you on that.

They never said no.

They just said, Not right now, not right now.

I still would welcome an interview with former President Trump.

-And when you were deciding on who to include in America at a Crossroads, I wonder what went into the decision to have certain groups on that are viewed by some as extreme; for example, Moms for Liberty out of North Carolina or the We the People clinic in Florida that serves people who do not believe in the COVID-19 vaccine.

What went into why you should have those people on?

-Because we believe in reporting on a spectrum of views.

We spoke to a woman who represents-- is active in Moms for Liberty in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

We wanted to speak to her because we were looking at how the Tulsa School Board is wrestling with tough questions about books that should be banned that might mention the history of race, the history of slavery in America.

We were talking to people in the black community in Tulsa who believe that, that you absolutely need to learn about the entirety of American history.

And others in Tulsa as well.

But the Moms for Liberty group is among those who their view is in so many words, that what's taught in the public schools, we need to be careful.

Teachers need to be careful not to see that some children are made to feel uncomfortable.

And what they would go on to say is that that means white children to feel uncomfortable.

They are very open about that view.

They don't want teachers to teach material that would make their children feel uncomfortable.

We think it's important to get that point of view in so that the viewer, the voters, can make up their own mind.

When we went to Florida to interview the people who were running the so called We the People clinic, it was an effort to explain how some people don't accept that COVID is a serious virus.

We know it killed millions of people around the globe, killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Their view is that it was mishandled in this country, that the virus, that the vaccines that were presented and given, shared with the American people, did more harm than good.

And that is a point of view that is shared by many Trump voters, by a number of Trump voters.

And we felt it was important to get that point of view across, because it's, it counters what the, what the Biden administration was putting forward.

-Right.

And I was talking about the interview, the Moms for Liberty interview in North Carolina.

That was regarding social media.

That was a fascinating episode.

-We did.

We looked at-- one of the pieces we looked at was looking at the role of media, in general, and how news media, cable television in particular, contributes to the division.

But then the other piece we did was looking at social media.

And you're right.

Depending on which side of the political spectrum you're on, you're looking at a different group of social media posts or a different group of social media sources.

And so we wanted to talk to one on the right.

That was Moms for Liberty.

We also talked to one or more on the left.

-Lastly, during your political reporting career, when were moderate politicians most prevalent?

And do you foresee the U.S. ever returning to that?

-I would say back in the '70s, '80s, and '90s.

And I've covered Washington since the 1970s.

It's not that the moderates were always winning, but they played a role in bringing the two sides together.

On Social Security, for example, there was a major compromise on Social Security in the 1980s that kept the Social Security program alive for years to come.

There were attempts by Republicans and Democrats, John McCain, Republican, and Democratic lawmakers coming together on immigration.

They were not able to get the legislation passed that they wanted, but they tried.

Today you just you don't see an effort like that that's successful.

There was an effort made in this last Congress by Democrats and Republicans, but they couldn't get enough Republicans to agree.

We'll see what happens in the future.

-Do you think we'll ever return to that time?

-I think that's a great question.

I would hope so.

As a, as a journalist who-- you know, I told you I don't think journalists should express our opinions on politics.

I don't think it's wrong to say that I'd like to see the country come to a place where we can at least work together, where you do see the two parties coming together to solve our greatest challenges, whether it be the role of government, government spending, immigration, in the environment.

I don't think it's too much to ask for, that it's a good thing for our country to see our elected political leaders able to solve these problems on our behalf.

I think that's-- I think that bodes well for America.

-And real quick, I'd kick myself if I didn't circle back.

But why do you not share your opinions with your children on politics?

-Well, because I was afraid they would tell somebody else.

-Okay.

-They all said, Oh, well, I'll keep it a secret.

But I knew, you know.

They have friends.

I knew they'd talk.

-That makes sense.

Judy Woodruff, thank you for joining Nevada Week.

-Absolutely.

Delighted to be here.

Thank you, Amber.

-To see Woodruff's Las Vegas report, look for the America at a Crossroads section at pbs.org/newshour.

We move now to chronic absenteeism.

That's when a student misses 10% or more of school days.

While the percentage of students who are chronically absent has declined, rates remain well above prepandemic levels.

That's the case nationally, in Nevada, and in the Clark County School District, where chronic absenteeism last school year was about 6 percentage points lower than the previous school year.

Here to explain their work in that reduction are Debbie Palacios, Executive Director of Communities in Schools of Southern Nevada; Marco Mercado, a Communities in Schools of Southern Nevada Site Coordinator; and Kevin McPartlin, Associate Superintendent at the Clark County School District.

Thank you all for joining us.

Marco, I want to start with you, because you were recently featured as part of a national campaign with CIS.

Your picture, along with that of a former student, was on a big building in Dallas.

I want to know about that student.

What was his story, what was keeping him from getting to school, and how did you resolve that?

(Marco Mercado) Well, thank you for having me.

So when it came to my former student, some of the things that were keeping him from coming to school was just more of like, you know, kind of like issues at home, transportation.

Sometimes it would result in like, you know, having to go to work instead of, like, going to school.

And we kind of started-- you know, there was a, there was a solution for every issue once you kind of broke it down and, you know, just the importance of, you know, getting your education, even though there might be other things going on, and kind of focusing on yourself and your future.

-You mentioned transportation.

Some of the other issues that lead to chronic absenteeism, what are they, Debbie, that you have found?

(Debbie Palacios) Yes.

You know, it's really important to ask students and families what they are going through.

And so a lot of it sometimes is not just a student issue, but it is a family issue.

So we know that families struggle with transportation.

It could be housing insecurity, food insecurity, childcare.

So we have older students perhaps taking care of younger siblings.

So really, just really tough issues that are affecting not just our students, but also their families.

-How does the school district go about addressing those complicated issues?

(Kevin McPartlin) Certainly.

And the great thing is, is there is an awareness of chronic absenteeism is not just a school district issue.

It is a community issue.

One thing we've done in the last 18 months is really focused on getting out to the families.

And so we have 30 attendance enforcement officers, and we focus on home visits.

We've narrowed the scope of their practice to get to home visits.

Last year, they did 38,000 home visits to really get into the homes, to identify what that need is and then connect them to our partners.

So, you know, we have identified, there's five main root causes that we've identified, even though it's very individualized.

It involves mental health, it involves academic gaps, childcare needs, and basic needs.

So that's where we try to fill, like-- is it clothing?

Is it housing?

Is it, you know, where there's some bullying situation going on at school?

And we work with the individual schools and the families to resolve that.

-Debbie, are there certain communities among students that are more impacted than others by chronic absenteeism?

-Absolutely.

We see it, of course, in our high-needs schools.

Communities in Schools is currently in over 80 schools here in the Clark County School District, and they are our Title I schools or schools where we know that students and their families are living at or below the poverty line.

And then that also affects our students of color.

So primarily, those are communities of color, and what we really want to do is go into those communities and, first and foremost, identify the issues, identify those barriers, but then also look at what are some of the really great assets of those communities and leverage those in order to be able to build those relationships and seek those needs.

And we do that through our partnerships with our schools, with our educators.

We know that these issues are way too big for one entity to be able to tackle on their own, so that collaboration piece is critical.

-Kevin, you and I had spoken off camera about basic needs, clothing, for example.

A child may have only one pair of clothes to wear and does not want to go back to school wearing the same thing every day.

These kind of issues existed prior to the pandemic, though, right?

So why is this such a big issue now?

-Yeah, no, I think, and again, it absolutely existed before.

I think that COVID and the lockdown and students being isolated and not being able to go to their safe place at school, it really just put a magnifying glass on some of the preexisting issues.

And students, you know, not being able to go to their safe place a lot of times at school.

And then also just exasperated where parents kind of tend to deal with their own needs to provide for the family, and the students were kind of left behind a bit.

So it's certainly they exist, but it exponentially expanded the issues.

-But if that was their safe space, then wouldn't they want to go back to it now that school is back open?

-Might not always have the option when you're helping provide for your family or assisting them in things that maybe they used to do and aren't able to because, you know.

I knew a lot of students that had to not only get themselves ready, but get their younger siblings ready and made sure that they got to school on time and made sure that they were there to pick them up.

You know, certain things like that.

Or, you know, sometimes, Oh, you know, I gotta, I gotta help provide for this family, so I'm gonna choose to work instead of going to school.

It's not necessarily what I want to do, but it's what I need to do.

-How difficult is it getting parents on board on this topic?

-I think with the Clark County School District, we have our "Attendance Matters" campaign, and it really talks about just explaining to parents some of the procedures that schools have and some of the reasons why it's important to go to school and family habits that can support it, but then, most importantly, the resources that are available.

Because, again, we do have a lot of instances where parents have to get up to go to work early.

Students now are taking care of themselves to get there.

Sometimes it is if there is some kind of childcare or some kind of place that can go and transport the students there, and we can provide that.

So I think parents, a lot of times it's not, it's not just that they aren't aware students need to be in school.

There's so many obstacles in the way that we need to help fill the gaps to support those families.

-I would also like to say, you know, I think I'm not a parent myself, but what I see with just, you know, I've worked with so many students along these, you know, eight years.

And something I want to say is, I do think, you know, as a parent, I could understand a parent having, you know, pride and not wanting to ask for help, but, you know, it's okay.

And we all need help every now and then, and there's no need to be ashamed of that and knowing that you're doing it for your child.

And I mean, if the resources are out there, like, you know, take that advantage.

-If I could just jump on that.

You're so right, Marco.

And that's where, with our attendance enforcement officers, when they go to the homes, it's not a, Parents, you're screwing up.

Get your kid to school.

It's really, There's something going on here.

We want to help.

Like, let's-- and that's where parents are really-- you know, it's not this punitive thing.

And parents are a little bit more accepting of, Okay, you're not, you're not here to yell at me or to get me in trouble, you want to help.

And that's really the tactic we've been taking.

-I was going to say something.

I remember telling students, you know, it matters the approach that you do.

Speak to students and an approach that they're probably used to is like, you know, You're gonna get in trouble.

You're, you know-- This is, you know-- Why are you missing so much school?

And I feel like my approach was always like, hey, what's going on?

What can I help you with?

What are you willing to share so I can hopefully assist you?

And I think that just has to do with the collaboration piece and building those rapport with those students.

-Last thing, Debbie.

I'll put you on the spot.

You said "creative approaches."

Can you name one that's kind of outside of the box?

-Yeah, absolutely.

So we support over 70,000 students here in our community, and we do that a lot through our resource rooms.

And these resource rooms are stocked with whatever students might need.

We've talked about clothing.

It could be hygiene supplies.

It could be shoes.

But one of our resource rooms, for instance, stocks alarm clocks, because we have students who are getting themselves to school.

And so when we collect school supplies, we actually put alarm clocks on that list, which folks might not necessarily equate to a school supply.

But it is something a student needs that's going to help them be successful.

So they can have an alarm clock that will wake them up so that they are able, because Mom and Dad maybe are working that shift and can't get them to school, and they can get themselves to school.

So again, really getting to know those students, those families, building that trust, and making sure that we understand how we can help.

-Thank you all for joining Nevada Week.

And thank you for watching.

Early voting is underway.

Runs through Friday, November 1.

Election Day, Tuesday, November 5.

For more information on registering to vote, go to vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek.

That is also where you'll find more resources dedicated to the discussion we just had.

And I'll see you next week on Nevada Week.