Missing two days a month adds up: what parents should know about chronic absence

Steps

1. Look up your child's attendance so far this year in the school's parent portal or on the report card, and count excused and unexcused days together.
2. Do the math: two days a month by November is already on the path to chronic absence.
3. Plan holiday travel around the school calendar so trips don't add extra missed days before or after breaks.
4. Keep kids home when they're truly sick (see the sick-day guide), and send them back as soon as the school's return rules allow.
5. If absences are adding up because of health problems, transportation, anxiety or something else, talk with the teacher, school counselor or nurse early. Attendance Works says many absences are tied to barriers like these, not to not caring.
6. Ask what the school offers: make-up work, bus or walking-route help, health services, or an attendance plan.

What's confirmed (Attendance Works)

• Chronic absence is missing 10% or more of school days due to absence for any reason, including excused absences, unexcused absences and suspensions.
• Attendance Works says missing 10% of school, or about 18 days in most districts, hurts a student's academic performance. That's just two days a month.
• It says chronic absence can make it harder to learn to read by third grade, achieve in middle school and graduate from high school, and that by 6th grade it becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school.
• Federal data for the 2020-21 school year showed at least 14.7 million students nationwide were chronically absent, almost double the pre-COVID number of more than 8 million.
• The federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires districts and states to collect and publicly report chronic absence data.

For PTAs

A friendly November newsletter note ("Every day counts: two days a month adds up") with the school's attendance contact and a reminder about holiday travel dates helps families without shaming anyone. Avoid singling out families or posting attendance lists.

Sources

Attendance Works: Chronic Absence, The Problem — https://www.attendanceworks.org/chronic-absence/the-problem/

Attendance Works: 10 Facts About School Attendance — https://www.attendanceworks.org/chronic-absence/the-problem/10-facts-about-school-attendance/

Related

• November school-parent checklist
• When to keep your child home sick from school (and when they can go back)
• Parent-teacher conference prep: a 15-minute checklist

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