Indiana’s chronic school absenteeism problem is improving for the third straight year.
New data from the Department of Education shows students regularly showing up for class more often. Students designated as “chronically absent” miss more than 10 percent of school days, excused or unexcused.
In the 2024 school year, chronic absenteeism rates dropped to 16.7 percent. That’s about a one percentage point improvement from the year before. Rates improved for students across all races and ethnicities.
Chronic absenteeism rates for the Monroe County School Corporation also dropped to about 18.4 percent.
After absences and truancy spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana legislators intervened. This summer, a new chronic absenteeism law went into effect, creating a list of best practices for discipline and changing the way schools report absences.
The law requires schools to intervene with parents when students miss more than five days without an excuse and to create attendance plans. Truant students — those with 10 or more unexcused absences — could hear from county prosecutors' offices or be referred to the Indiana Department of Child Services.
