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Chronic absenteeism in Michigan schools dropped slightly last year, but more than a fourth of students are still missing a lot of school.
Statewide, 27.2% of K-12 students were chronically absent, down from 27.9% the previous year, according to figures released Thursday. The absenteeism rate in Michigan has been among the highest in the nation, according to one report.
The persistently high absenteeism comes as many students in the state continue to struggle with reading and math. Third-grade reading scores reached a 12-year low in 2025, with just over 38% of students considered proficient.
A student is chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of a school year. That would mean 18 days or more in a typical 180-day calendar.
It’s the fourth year of decreases since the state’s chronic absenteeism reached a high of 38.5% in the 2021-22 school year.
“Students benefit when they are in school and engaged in learning,” State Superintendent Glenn Maleyko said. “Michigan’s improving attendance and chronic absenteeism rates reflect the hard work of local school districts, students, families, community partners and the Michigan Department of Education. While this progress is encouraging, more work remains. We must continue working together to improve attendance and further reduce chronic absenteeism across our state.”
Student attendance is linked to achievement. Teachers and principals have reported that regular student attendance is a challenge, especially after the pandemic.
Meanwhile, gaps persist. About 38% of students from low-income homes were chronically absent, compared to 15% of students who were not economically disadvantaged.
Sarah Lenhoff, a professor at Wayne State who studies chronic absenteeism, said the gap “remains concerning.”
“We still have quite a ways to go to get back to pre-COVID levels statewide,” Lenhoff said.
State law requires districts to provide 180 days and 1,098 hours of instruction. But many schools have fewer days because of bad weather, emergencies, or teacher professional development. Districts can count up to 38 hours of professional development as pupil instruction.
Students are considered chronically absent regardless of whether their absences are made up of excused, unexcused, or a combination of the two. District policies vary on what is counted excused or unexcused.
Michigan has not passed new laws or rules on attendance in recent years.
“Schools that are more effective at improving their students’ attendance tend to do more deep family engagement strategies,” Lenhoff said.
That includes visiting students’ homes to understand why students aren’t showing up and having staff that work directly with families and attendance. On the flip side, schools that more frequently send students to truancy court have lower attendance rates, she said.
Lenhoff said the state could provide funding for districts’ efforts to improve attendance and to study those efforts.
A state education department report issued in July lists student boredom, economic instability, and health issues as some of the root causes of absenteeism. The report says schools can remove barriers to attendance by offering transportation assistance, gas cards, or ride-sharing networks. It also recommends that schools communicate with families the importance of regularly attending school.
“At the secondary level, this is a very similar challenge we see with cellphones in schools,” said Bob Kefgen, associate director for government relations at the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. “Students are choosing something other than the education they are offered, for whatever reason.”
“The challenge here is: how do we re-engage students?”
He said efforts to change the high school learning experience can help make learning more engaging and meaningful for students.
Kefgen also acknowledged that other factors, such as food and housing insecurity, could keep students out of school.
“Chronic absenteeism is a community problem that manifests in schools,” he said.
Districts get creative to get students to school
Local districts have tried student incentives, reaching out to parents earlier about attendance trends, and conducting home visits. But leaders say they cannot increase attendance alone. In Detroit, high schoolers could earn up to $1,000 in Visa gift cards for achieving perfect attendance in various one-week periods. Almost 84% of high schoolers received at least one $100 gift card, Chalkbeat Detroit reported.
Detroit Public Schools Community District, which has long struggled with high rates of chronic absenteeism, saw its rate decline slightly to 60% during the 2025-26 school year.
That was down nearly 1 percentage point from the 2024-25 school year and well below the 76.7% rate in the 2021-22 school year.
The district has invested in attendance agents who monitor student attendance and often visit the homes of chronically absent students. It also created 10 health hubs, in part to provide resources that make it easier for students to get to school. The district also has a pilot program that provides yellow school bus transportation to students at select schools with poor attendance.
Since Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield took office in January, a centerpiece of her education plan has been to address chronic absenteeism. Her administration has done that by allowing students to ride city buses for free and, most recently, with an expansion of after-school programming.
Lenhoff said the mayor’s office’s attention to attendance was “promising.”
In Muskegon County, two neighboring districts had a friendly attendance competition that included a big trophy, bragging rights, and celebration for students who had fewer than five absences in seven months.
Meanwhile, a group of five intermediate school districts covering eight counties in mid-Michigan ran a public information campaign urging students to miss fewer than five days of school.
The Michigan Department of Education offers coaching to districts on how to look at student data to identify students at risk of dropping out and pair them with support. The process is called the Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System, or EWIMS.
Last school year, about 60 school districts participated in a pilot program aimed at better tracking attendance, student behavior, and course completions. The pilot program is run by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
Isabel Lohman is a reporter for Bridge Michigan. You can reach her at ilohman@bridgemi.com.
