AZ education officials calling chronic student absenteeism a 'catastrophe'
Nearly 1 in 3 AZ students were chronically absent
New figures show nearly a third of students in Arizona missed 18 or more school days in 2024, in a situation state leaders are calling a 'catastrophe' and an 'emergency.' FOX 10's Lauren Clark has more on the concerns.
PHOENIX - Nearly one in three Arizona students miss 18 days or more of school, according to recent figures, and experts are sounding the alarm, emphasizing both the short-term and long-term effects it can have on students' educational outcomes.
"I think parents should be real concerned about this," said Paul Perrault with Helios Education Foundation.
By the numbers:
According to findings by Helios, 29% of Arizona children in grades one through eight missed 18 days or more of school during the 2022-2023 school year.
These numbers began soaring during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic, and while the latest numbers represent a drop of about five percentage points from a peak of 34% in 2021, it's still more than double what it was pre-pandemic.
The findings were presented on Feb. 24 at a meeting of the state Board of Education.
Dig deeper:
Per the findings,
While this study didn’t focus on the question of why students are absent, several board members gave some suggestions, ranging from an increase of children needing to contribute to the household or watching younger siblings when money is tight, to bullying, struggles with mental health, and a lack of consistent messaging of the importance of school attendance.
"Students have told me that one of the biggest reasons students don’t come to school is because of bullying and behavioral and mental health," said Dr. Jaqui Clay.
Why you should care:
Helios researchers also pointed to what they described as a ‘disturbing connection’ between chronic absenteeism, which is about 18 days or approximately 10% of the school year, and poor educational outcomes.
"We also found that those students that are chronically absent tend to have lower math scores and English scores, so making it more difficult for them to do well in school," said Perrault..
What they're saying:
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said radical efforts are needed to combat this crisis.
"We bring back the old system, which was nine absences and you flunk the course, and five tardies count as an absence," said Superintendent Horne. "Parents don’t want their kids to fail courses or to miss out on graduating on time, and if schools would adopt those kinds of polices, we would see the parents motivated and a radical drop in absenteeism."