Horne calls for “radical efforts” to combat disastrous absenteeism problem

For immediate release: February 24, 2025
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Horne calls for “radical efforts” to combat disastrous absenteeism problem

Independent report spotlights “extraordinary” rate

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne says the disastrous rate of chronic absences among public school students requires “radical efforts” on the part of local schools to tackle the problem.

Polices regarding absences are set at the local district and charter level and Horne is urging schools to adopt measures that call for nine unexcused absences resulting in a student failing a course and five tardies counting as an absence.

He stated, “The idea that a third of our students are missing 18 days of school or more is a real catastrophe and an emergency for our state. We need radical efforts to solve this problem. We have to create a motivation for parents to be sure their children go to school. 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. As a result of that we would see better academic results.”

Horne’s comments followed a presentation by the Phoenix-based Helios Foundation at the State Board of Education meeting today. Data provided by Helios shows that the rates of chronic absences skyrocketed across nearly every grade level in the 2022-23 school year compared to levels prior to the pandemic. The data show absenteeism rates for all grade levels of approximately nine percent during the 2019-20 school year compared to 30 percent from the 2022-23 school year.

He added, “90 percent of my time and energy and that of the department is geared toward students getting better academic results and raising proficiency rates. You can’t do that for kids who don’t show up in school; you can’t teach a student who is not there.”

Arizona defines chronic absence as missing 10 percent or more of the school year for any reason while enrolled at a given school. This results in 18 days missed in a typical 180-day school year assuming a student does not change schools.

A copy of the Helios report is attached.

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