Let’s agree that, in order to learn, one must actually show up to school and put one’s butt in one’s chair.
Unfortunately, many kids in Orange County — and many more in the state at large — are struggling with this most fundamental step. Chronic absenteeism skyrocketed during the pandemic, and while attendance is improving, absenteeism remains about twice as high as in the pre-COVID era.
“Left unaddressed, chronic absence can translate into students having difficulty learning to read by grade 3, reaching grade level standards in middle school and graduating from high school,” said a recent study by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). “Although rates of chronic absence have continued to decrease since their peak in 2021–22, they remain alarmingly high. Ensuring equitable opportunities to learn will require ongoing attention and action.”
In Orange County, chronic absenteeism — defined as missing 10% or more school days — averaged just 7.6% back in the 2016-17 school year, according to state data. It nearly tripled to 21.3% in 2021-22, then dropped to 15% in 2023-24.
That’s better than California as a whole. The Golden State’s chronic absenteeism averaged 10.8% in 2016-17, nearly tripled to 30.8% in 2021-22, and dropped to 20.6% in 2023-24, data show.
Missing in action
Exceeding 20% is concerning.
“When at least 20 percent or more of students in a school are chronically absent, the educational experience of all students, not just chronically absent students, is affected,” the PACE study said. “The constant churn of students in classrooms negatively affects both teaching and learning.”
That 20+% absentee rate continued in only a handful of O.C. districts in 2023-24, including those in Anaheim and the Orange County Department of Education, which runs special ed and alternative programs, among other tasks.
But several districts — including Santa Ana Unified, Buena Park Elementary, Magnolia Elementary, Savanna Elementary, Orange Unified and Huntington Beach Union High — came uncomfortably close, with more than 17% of students chronically absent.
The districts with the lowest chronic absenteeism in Orange County that year — below 10% — were Irvine Unified, Brea-Olinda Unified, Huntington Beach City Elementary, Fountain Valley Elementary, Los Alamitos Unified and Cypress Elementary.
Signs wait to welcome students as third grade teacher Lindsey Farney sits in an empty classroom as she talks with her students on the second day of class at Richman Elementary School in Fullerton, CA, on Wednesday, August 12, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)Will this improvement continue? Ongoing immigration raids can spook heavily-immigrant communities, dissuading some kids from going to school. Some 12,000 school-aged children in O.C. lack legal status, according to the Migration Policy Institute, and more than a quarter of kids under age 18 have at least one undocumented parent, according to a study from the USC Equity Research Institute.
School officials in Orange County report that attendance has been steady as of late. But in districts where chronic absenteeism is already an issue, that’s not necessarily comforting. How will this will play out in the longer term? How will it impact these kids?
What and why?
Policy Analysis for California EducationHere’s a shocker: Schools serving more socio-economically disadvantaged kids have greater levels of chronic absenteeism.
In 2023–24, just 2% of the most affluent schools (those where less than one-quarter of the kids were poor) had high or extreme levels of chronic absence, the PACE study found.
In schools where three-quarters or more of the kids were poor, 72% of had high or extreme levels of chronic absence.
“It is encouraging that these numbers are decreasing for all schools … but high-poverty schools remain severely affected,” the PACE report said. “(C)hronic absence both reflects and exacerbates inequities.”
High absenteeism can be a symptom of the challenges kids and families face, such as a lack of access to health care, unreliable transportation and housing and food insecurity, it said. Bullying, an unwelcoming school climate, biased disciplinary or attendance practices and a lack of a meaningful and culturally relevant curriculum can make matters worse.
“Such difficulties can affect students’ ability to learn,” PACE said, “as well as cause them to fall farther behind because they miss invaluable instruction.”
Who?
Policy Analysis for California EducationIn California, Latino students are disproportionally among the chronically absent.
They made up 65% of chronically absent students in 2022–23 and 2023–24, but 56% of the student population overall.
White students were the next-largest group, followed by Black students.
“(S)chool and district actions to improve school attendance for students in this group must be multifaceted and include services that meet their basic needs, make school feel safe and welcoming, and ensure engaging and rigorous learning opportunities,” the report said. “Equally critical are partnerships with community organizations and public agencies for addressing barriers and challenges to school attendance that may fall beyond the capacity of educators alone to meet.”
Students arrive for the first day of school at Western High School in Anaheim on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. In a move to consolidate, students from the Orangeview Junior High are now attending class at the Western High School campus. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)The alarmingly high levels of chronic absence occurring nationwide require sustained attention and action, PACE said. Although California’s numbers are challenging, absenteeism can be addressed when districts, with state support, help schools take a data-informed approach that’s grounded in an understanding of local realities.
“This analysis of data through the 2023–24 school year offers hopeful signs that attendance levels in California are moving in the right direction, but even greater efforts are needed in the schools and communities most affected by COVID-19 and education inequities,” PACE said.
What to do?
Up at the state level, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond made a “bold commitment” to reduce chronic absenteeism by 50 percent over five years — which would return California’s chronic absenteeism rate in 2030 to roughly what it was in 2016.
He intends to do this with a three-pronged approach stressing health, well-being and safety (“Students attend school when they are physically and emotionally healthy as well as when they feel safe and supported”); family engagement (“Students attend school when they and their families are actively engaged as partners in advancing learning and overcoming barriers to getting to school”); and student connectedness (“Students attend school when they are connected to a caring adult and peers, engaged in prosocial activities, and feel a sense of belonging”).
Schools should “drive with data;” directly engage with kids and families to identify the factors affecting attendance and engagement; “mobilize everyone — families, students, school staff and external partners — to address attendance;” and then examine their interventions to see if they’re actually making a difference, the state’s guidance says.
Attendance WorksThe Orange County Office of Education, which supports local districts, helps schools look beyond numbers and respond to the individual needs of students and families that may be keeping them from class, spokesman Ian Hanigan said. Tools include academic intervention, inclusion and positive behavioral interventions, among other things.
“Chronic absenteeism remains one of the most important challenges we face as educators because regular attendance is directly linked to academic success, engagement and overall student well-being,” said OCDE Superintendent Stefan Bean by email. “In recent years, we’ve seen encouraging signs that attendance is improving across Orange County but we also recognize there’s more work to be done.”
OCDE’s goal is to help schools identify students who are at risk early on, provide targeted resources and data analysis, and collaborate with district leaders, community organizations and families to strengthen engagement and remove barriers to attendance, he said.
The Anaheim Elementary School District, one of O.C.’s hardest hit, has taken a page straight from the U.S. Department of Education: Helping parents navigate when kids are too sick to attend school and when it’s okay for them to attend, said Yadira Moreno, assistant superintendent for educational services.
Minor stomach aches, sore throats, ear aches and headaches — with no fever? Those get the green light. Fevers over 100.4 degrees, vomiting and diarrhea get the red light.
“We recently created a magnet through our Community Schools movement, as a request from parents for the visual,” she said. “This is changing a mindset we established during COVID, when students needed to be out 10 days if they tested positive for COVID or were exposed to someone who had tested positive.”
Also, Attendance Review Teams meet monthly with districtwide attendance and community engagement officials, she said. “It is a collaborative effort with site leaders working together to encourage students to attend every day! We are also launching our short term independent study contracts in November, to help our district recoup attendance. What we know, small district level changes, matter for our students to learn and thrive.”
Toward the other end of the absentee spectrum is the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, which had a 13.1% absentee rate in 2023-24 — and saw that drop to 10.7% last year.
There’s the strategic use of data, phone calls home and home visits to families, said spokeswoman Alyssa Griffiths.
Schools routinely review attendance data and conduct small group check-ins to identify and address what might be contributing to student absences.
New graduates toss their graduation caps into the air at the conclusion of the Woodbridge High graduation ceremony at Irvine High School in Irvine on Thursday, June 6, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)The importance of attending school every day has been incorporated into districtwide newsletters and back-to-school night presentations. Professional development for teachers focuses on positive, rather than punitive, behavioral and engagement practices. And the district has used one-time funds to expand social-emotional and behavioral support staff, further strengthening relationships and student well-being on campus.
“We recognize that when students feel connected and supported, they’re more likely to attend school regularly,” she said.
And when they attend school regularly, it’s easier to learn. We need these kids to be educated. We’re leaving them quite a tangle to unravel in coming decades. They must be up to the task.
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