BUFFALO, N.Y. — Nearly a third of students in New York State were chronically absent from school following the pandemic.
That's according to a report by the New York State Comptroller.
According to the report, chronic absenteeism in New York public and charter schools increased as students returned to the classroom after the COVID-19 pandemic, and continues to stay high with nearly one in three students have been chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year.
“Chronic absenteeism has been linked to lower grades, lower standardized test scores, and increased risk of dropout,” State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a release. “Students who chronically miss classroom time often fall behind. Reducing chronic absenteeism will be essential for turning around pandemic-era learning loss. School districts need to engage students, families, and their communities to address this troubling issue.”
According to the report:
- Large city public schools (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers) and charter schools had the greatest high school chronic absenteeism rates: 64.2% and 52.1%, respectively. These high schools also had the greatest increase in chronic absenteeism between SYs 2018-2019 and 2022-2023. New York City high schools had a 43.1% chronic absenteeism rate in SY 2022-2023.
- Chronic absenteeism rates are higher in high-need school districts than in low-need districts. High schools in high-need rural districts had a chronic absenteeism rate of 33%, a 10.1 point increase from SY 2018-2019, and high-need urban-suburban districts had a rate of 40.9%, an 8.6 point increase from SY 2018-2019. Low-need districts had a high school chronic absenteeism rate of 13.4%, a 4.9 point increase from SY 2018-2019.
- Racial disparities also impact chronic absenteeism rates. Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (21.3%) and White (24.7%) high school students have much lower chronic absenteeism rates than Hispanic or Latino students (43.7%) and Black or African American students (46.4%).
- Absenteeism rates are also higher among economically disadvantaged students, English language learners and students with disabilities. In the large city high schools, the SY 2022-2023 rate for these students was an alarming 71.2%.
The New York State Education Department recently launched the "Every Student Present". It's a program that can provide help to parents, staff and communities to help reduce chronic absenteeism.
The state comptroller's office says school districts like Buffalo and Syracuse have launched their own efforts to reduce absenteeism.
You can read the full report here: Missing School: New York’s Stubbornly High Rates of Chronic Absenteeism
