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As schools continue to recover from the pandemic, there鈥檚 one troubling COVID symptom they can鈥檛 seem to shake: record-setting absenteeism.

In the 2021-22 school year, more than one in four U.S. public school students missed at least 10% of school days. Before the pandemic, it was closer to one in seven, the Associated Press , relying on data from 40 states and the District of Columbia. 

In New York City, the nation鈥檚 largest district, chronic absenteeism , according to district officials, meaning some 375,000 students were regularly absent. In Washington, D.C., it . In Detroit, .

Data are just beginning to emerge for the most recent school year, but a few snapshots present a troubling picture:

• In Oakland, Calif., district officials said were chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year; 
• In Providence, R.I., the district in September said of students missed at least 10 percent last year;
• And in suburban , near Washington, D.C., about 27% of students were chronically absent last year, up from 20% four years earlier. As elsewhere, high school students were more likely to be chronically absent. 

While many policymakers have cited disconnection from school as a key reason for the problem, others say it has different causes unique to the times we鈥檙e in 鈥� causes that educators have rarely had to deal with so fully until now, from the death of caregivers to rising teacher absences and even, for older students, a more attractive labor market. 

Here, according to researchers, school officials and parents鈥� organizations, among others, are six hidden (and not-so-hidden) reasons that chronic absenteeism rates remain high.

1. Worsening mental health

In a by the National Center for Education Statistics, 70% of public schools reported an increase in the percentage of students seeking mental health services at school since the start of the pandemic; 76% reported an increase in staff voicing concerns about students with symptoms of depression, anxiety and trauma.

And after modest declines in 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported during the pandemic. Suicides are rising fastest among young people, among other groups.

鈥淲e’re in the middle of a mental health crisis for kids,鈥� said , president of the National Parents Union. She said mental health support, both in our public education system and larger health care system, is inadequate to deal with the crisis.

鈥淜ids are literally refusing to go [to school]. That is a major issue that I hear from parents every day. ‘I can’t get my kid up. They do not want to go.’鈥�

For many students, school has lost its value, she said, 鈥渂ecause there’s not a lot of meat on the bone,鈥� either because instruction has worsened or because many students feel they can do what鈥檚 required from home. 

2. Death of caregivers

As many as in the U.S. have lost one or both parents to the pandemic, researchers now estimate, with about 359,000 losing a primary or secondary caregiver, including a grandparent.

Those losses hit hardest in multigenerational, low-income households, since many grandparents and other relatives were playing caregiving roles, said , a research professor at Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 School of Education. 鈥淚t now falls to the teenagers,鈥� he said. Even those who don鈥檛 care for younger siblings may now need to do so for surviving parents or even grandparents, making school less of a priority.

3. Teacher absences 

Among the most politically charged storylines to emerge from the pandemic was the that of teachers and other school staff pushing to ensure their safety, often by keeping schools operating remotely or demanding generous COVID-related sick-day policies.

The result has been an explosion of teacher absenteeism alongside that of students. In Illinois, just 66% of teachers had fewer than 10 absences in 2022. In west of Chicago, it was even lower at just 54% of teachers.

A May 2022 found that chronic teacher absenteeism during the 2021-22 school year had increased in 72% of schools, compared to a typical pre-pandemic school year. In 37% of schools, teacher absenteeism increased 鈥渁 lot.鈥�  

Simultaneously, it found, 60% of schools nationwide found it harder to find substitute teachers. And when subs couldn鈥檛 be found, 73% of schools brought in administrators to cover classes.

That makes school a lot less valuable for students, said Rodrigues. 鈥淲hat we saw in COVID is how little instruction many of our kids are actually getting,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so it’s very hard as a parent to make the argument: ‘No, you’ve got to go. This is important for your future,’ when all you’re doing there is sitting and watching a movie because you have a sub again and again and again.鈥�

4. Remote assignments

While many students struggled to keep up with schoolwork during the pandemic, the experience revolutionized schools鈥� thinking about remote learning. Most significantly, it gave students the ability to complete classwork entirely at home, without stepping into the school building. In many districts, schools have continued to allow students to, in essence, work from home like their parents.

Combined with looser rules around sick-day attendance, observers say, this has resulted in millions of students 鈥� and their parents 鈥� deciding that five-day-a-week school attendance is no longer mandatory. 

鈥淜ids don’t see why they can’t ,鈥� said Tim Daly, former president of TNTP and co-founder of the consulting firm . In a recent issue of his newsletter, Daly noted that when students miss a day of school, 鈥渁ll the work is available online in real-time, making it simple for a student to complete it all from home before the day is even done.鈥�

Sitting in a desk for six hours a day is for suckers.

Tim Daly, EdNavigator

Given the low quality of instruction that many parents saw during the pandemic, he said, parents now are less likely to worry if their child is missing a day. 鈥淪itting in a desk for six hours a day,鈥� he wrote, 鈥渋s for suckers.鈥�

Student testimonials bear that out, said Montgomery County鈥檚 Neff.

Students in focus groups now tell administrators that five-day-a-week attendance now seems optional, he said. 鈥淭hey’ve told us repeatedly, ‘We got so used to a year-and-a-half or more taking classes, sitting on our bed in our pajamas on our computer.’ And many of them are continuing a struggle to get back into school regularly.鈥�

Students who learned reasonably well at home, he said, now wonder, 鈥溾�榃hy are you telling me now I have to sit in seven periods a day for five days a week?’ 

At one of the nation鈥檚 most renowned suburban high schools, New Trier High School near Chicago, the percentage of chronically absent students rose to more than 25% last winter, the Chicago Tribune . Absenteeism rose as students got older, officials noted, with rates of just over 14% for freshmen but nearly 38% for seniors.

By late May, even the student editors of the school newspaper declared that they : 鈥淲hile this trend isn鈥檛 unique to New Trier,鈥� they wrote in an editorial, 鈥渋t鈥檚 also not acceptable. We believe that both the school and students need to do more.鈥�

Jean Hahn, a New Trier board member, last spring pointed out that many adults now work remotely. 鈥淪o many of us don鈥檛 have to be at our desk 9-5 Monday through Friday anymore,鈥� Hahn told attendees at a board meeting. 鈥淚t鈥檚 challenging for parents to explain to our young people why they do.鈥�

5. A higher minimum wage

Over the past few years, more than half of the 50 states have been in a kind of arms race to raise their minimum wage, tempting teens to trim their school hours or drop out altogether to help their families get by.

While the federal minimum wage since 2009 has remained $7.25, 30 states have set theirs higher, according to the left-leaning . While just four states and the District of Columbia now guarantee a minimum wage at or above $15, eight states are on pace to get there by 2026 or sooner.

In states offering $15 an hour, said Hopkins鈥� Balfanz, this likely made the absentee problem worse. 

鈥淭hat’s real money to a 17-year-old,鈥� he said, offering them both a bit of personal agency and the opportunity to help out their families. 鈥淭hings that did not make sense at $6 an hour do make sense, then, at $15.鈥�

Steven Neff, director of pupil personnel and attendance services for Montgomery County Public Schools, the suburban D.C. district, said students 鈥渁re telling us that there is great value in being able to have a job that is paying reasonably well.鈥� Minimum wage work, he said, now 鈥渉as even greater financial enticements than when I think about minimum wage when I was their age.鈥� 

6. Better record-keeping

One reason why chronic absenteeism seems to be spreading may have less to do with actual attendance and more with better record-keeping by districts and states.

Until recently, researchers found that the problem was often confined mostly to high-poverty neighborhoods. 

But here鈥檚 the thing: A decade ago, few schools even kept track of chronic absenteeism. Most states didn鈥檛 actively track it until 2016, when new flexibility under the federal allowed them to choose indicators of school quality according to their own desired outcomes. That鈥檚 when about 30 states made it an indicator in their accountability systems 鈥� and on school report cards.

Before that, Balfanz said, school districts typically measured average daily attendance, which could actually mask high chronic absenteeism that lurked around the edges. It’s mathematically possible, he said, to have an average daily attendance of 92% 鈥渂ut still have a fifth of your kids missing a month of school. Different kids on different days are making up that 92%.鈥�

So by 2020, when the pandemic hit, schools had only been tracking it for a few years and had few good strategies to address it, Balfanz said. 鈥淚t’s relatively new. And then the pandemic spread it everywhere.鈥�

Where do we go from here?

At New Trier, student pressure eventually paid off, resulting in a new plan this fall: In preparation for the 2023-24 school year, a school committee recommended for absences, including just five 鈥渕ental health days鈥� per year. It also bans students from participating in extracurriculars if they鈥檙e not in class that day. They鈥檒l get an email by 3:15 p.m. notifying them not to show up to sports or other activities.

Simple interventions can also help: A found that offering parents personalized nudges by mail about their kids鈥� absences reduced chronic absenteeism by 10% or more, partly by correcting parents鈥� incorrect beliefs that their kids hadn鈥檛 missed as much school as they actually had 鈥� research shows that both parents and students underestimate it by nearly 50%.

That鈥檚 probably preferable to how many schools attack the problem, via 鈥渟upportive鈥� phone calls home, said Hopkins鈥� Balfanz. 鈥淲ho’s going to make 150 phone calls a day in a school?鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you have that one person assigned to it, they literally would be spending the whole day calling.鈥�

EdNavigator鈥檚 Daly says schools should reset the discussion around attendance, urging parents to let their kids miss school as rarely as possible and communicate honestly about absentee rates.

Who's going to make 150 phone calls a day in a school? If you have that one person assigned to it, they literally would be spending the whole day calling.

Robert Balfanz, Johns Hopkins University

Neff, the Montgomery County attendance services director, said transparency 鈥渋ncreases the urgency in all of us鈥� and is essential if schools want to get parents on board.

鈥淚n order to fully have them understand the gravity of the situation, we needed to show them: 鈥楬ere is our data. Here is where it was, here is where it is and where it is for certain groups. We need your help to fix this.鈥� 鈥�

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