WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Seven elementary schools will receive over $300,000 in grants to help tackle absenteeism.

The Wichita Eagle  reports a grant from the United Way to Communities in Schools of Wichita/Sedgwick County will be used to establish a network of coordinators, mentors and volunteers to decrease chronic absenteeism in the primary grades.

Harry Street, Dodge Literacy Magnet, Franklin, Gardiner, Payne and Stanley elementary schools will get the grant next school year.

Schools define chronic absenteeism as missing 10 percent or more of school time, and this includes all absences, excused or unexcused.

According to district records, 16.8 percent of Wichita students were considered chronically absent last school year.