About me
Melissa Schoonmaker currently serves as Project Director over the Child Welfare and Attendance Unit for the Los Angeles County Office of Education and supports 80 districts and numerous charter schools. She has over 28 years of child welfare and attendance experience with an extensive focus on pupil services, program management, community partnerships, outreach efforts, and legal and procedural aspects of student rights. She is an expert in attendance improvement, dropout prevention, chronic absenteeism, intervention and recovery strategies, inter-district appeals, student records, student discipline including suspensions and expulsions, homeless education as well as training in youth mental health first aid and restorative practices.
