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Chronic absenteeism

At least 1 in 11 of the 4,162 school board meetings we read in the past year dealt with chronic absenteeism.

Spreadsheet: all 4,162 meetings read, 451 marked yes
10.8%of meetings (90% range of our count 9.8%⁠–⁠12.0%)
451meetings
287districts

We catch about 6 in 10 meetings that discuss this (90% range 46%⁠–⁠83%); counts are floors.

Clips

Board members on chronic absenteeism

I think all of us should agree that you should be taking your vacations not during school time. She's not missing instructional time, 100% about that. My only thing is vacation label is removed. What's from stopping a parent or anybody else from just marking it family-related or mental health day just to sub that for a vacation?Andrew BernardMember · Indian Prairie CUSD 204 Board of Education · Aug 11, 2026Watch the full meeting from 1:33:53
By state

Meetings where we found chronic absenteeism, state by state

Of the 4,162 checked meetings the issue check read since Nov 1, 2025 · alphabetical, not ranked: we haven't measured how much of each state our count catches, so states can't be compared on these floors · the quiet band is each state's 90% range · a state needs 30+ meetings from 5+ districts, and a state that is mostly one district is named with that district

  1. California30.1% · 24%⁠–⁠36% · 342 mtgs
  2. Colorado16.1% · 7%⁠–⁠27% · 68 mtgs
  3. Connecticut11.5% · 3%⁠–⁠21% · 121 mtgs
  4. Florida17.1% · 6%⁠–⁠29% · 35 mtgs
  5. Illinois10.2% · 7%⁠–⁠14% · 215 mtgs
  6. Indiana7.0% · 3%⁠–⁠11% · 156 mtgs
  7. Louisiana5.5% · 0%⁠–⁠15% · 36 mtgs
  8. Michigan9.3% · 5%⁠–⁠13% · 213 mtgs
  9. Minnesota7.7% · 3%⁠–⁠12% · 116 mtgs
  10. Missouri10.0% · 5%⁠–⁠15% · 100 mtgs
  11. New Jersey7.2% · 4%⁠–⁠11% · 250 mtgs
  12. New York8.1% · 5%⁠–⁠12% · 478 mtgs
  13. North Carolina4.3% · 0%⁠–⁠10% · 91 mtgs
  14. Ohio10.4% · 7%⁠–⁠14% · 248 mtgs
  15. Oregon20.7% · 13%⁠–⁠32% · 77 mtgs
  16. Pennsylvania2.8% · 1%⁠–⁠5% · 244 mtgs
All 47 states
  1. Tennessee3.4% · 0%⁠–⁠7% · 88 mtgs
  2. Texas9.1% · 5%⁠–⁠14% · 241 mtgs
  3. Virginia9.5% · 5%⁠–⁠15% · 146 mtgs
  4. Washington8.8% · 5%⁠–⁠13% · 124 mtgs
  5. Wisconsin7.7% · 5%⁠–⁠11% · 231 mtgs
  6. Alabama— 25 meetings read
  7. Alaska— 9 meetings read
  8. Arizona— 7 meetings read
  9. Arkansas— 7 meetings read
  10. Delaware— 4 meetings read
  11. Georgia— mostly one district: Atlanta Public Schools, 1 of 2 meetings
  12. Idaho— 19 meetings read
  13. Iowa— mostly one district: Ames Community School District, 1 of 1 meeting
  14. Kansas— mostly one district: Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501, 3 of 14 meetings
  15. Kentucky— mostly one district: Madison County, 2 of 7 meetings
  16. Maine— 10 meetings read
  17. Maryland— mostly one district: Kent County Public Schools, 7 of 11 meetings
  18. Massachusetts— 5 meetings read
  19. Mississippi— 16 meetings read
  20. Montana— mostly one district: East Helena K-12 School District, 2 of 12 meetings
  21. Nebraska— 11 meetings read
  22. Nevada— 17 meetings read
  23. New Hampshire— 26 meetings read
  24. New Mexico— 24 meetings read
  25. North Dakota— 18 meetings read
  26. Oklahoma— 11 meetings read
  27. South Carolina— 18 meetings read
  28. South Dakota— 6 meetings read
  29. Utah— 21 meetings read
  30. West Virginia— 9 meetings read
  31. Wyoming— 24 meetings read
The map

Every district we read, sized by how many of its meetings discussed chronic absenteeism

Oakland Unified, CA 13Kent County Public Schools, MD 7Windham School District, CT 7

One point per district at its Census location · 9 of 1,114 districts have no Census point · one colour, no sides · How we count

Discussed, and who came to speak

Where chronic absenteeism came up, against how many members of the public speak

131030100+Typical district 8%Many speakers, rarely discussedMany speakers, often discussedOften discussed, few speakersPublic speakers per meeting ↑↑ Public speakers per meetingSan Francisco Unified 33%, 32.3 a meetingLos Angeles Unified 26%, 30.9 a meetingFort Worth ISD 22%, 30.1 a meetingWindham School District 70%, 0.7 a meetingKent County Public Schools 63%, 0.5 a meeting
← Less often on chronic absenteeismMore of its meetings →

Also discussed at 153 more districts where we read fewer than 6 meetings:

In the news

At least 130 news articles found by search, Oct 29, 2025 to Oct 28, 2026

Districts that discussed it most

Oakland Unified discussed it at 13 meetings, more than any other district.

13 of 22Oakland Unified CAmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings7 of 10Windham School District CTmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings7 of 11Kent County Public Schools MDmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings6 of 10Robla Elementary School District CAmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings6 of 11Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified CAmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings6 of 11Redwood City Elementary School District CAmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings5 of 10Carson City School District NVmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings5 of 12Troy City School District NYmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings5 of 19Los Angeles Unified CAmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings4 of 9Grand Island Public Schools NEmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings
The meetings behind this number

All 451 meetings, newest first

Showing the newest 100

Spreadsheet: all 4,162 meetings read, 451 marked yes