About 35% of students missed at least 18 days of school last year — or 10% of the days in the school year, an amount that qualifies them as being chronically absent.

It’s a problem that has plagued the city, and other districts around the state and country, since the pandemic hit in 2020. The data is released annually by the Department of Education, and was highlighted this week in a report from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. 

What You Need To Know

  • Last school year, 35% of students in public schools were chronically absent — missing 18 days of school or more

  • The number was even higher for students in temporary housing: Fifty-one percent of those children were chronically absent

  • Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos says many students face barriers in getting to school

Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos told NY1 it’s a national problem, and one the city is working to combat.

“The big question is what's keeping our kids from coming to school? Because we truly believe that all parents and family members want to send their kids to school, but when they aren't, it's because there are certain barriers that are keeping them from coming to school,” she said.

The city has actually made some improvements in absenteeism:

  • Last year, 34.8% of students were chronically absent
  • In the 2022-2023 school year it was 36.2% 
  • In the 2021-2022 school year, it was a whopping 40.2%
  • In 2020-2021, it was 29.7%
  • And before the pandemic hit, in 2019-2020, it was 25.1%

Chronic absenteeism is higher among certain students — especially those living in temporary housing. 51.7% of those students were chronically absent last year. Those students often move homes, or can face difficulty getting to school from their shelters.

“Is it because they're facing housing insecurity, food insecurity? Is it because grandma is the person who's really taking care of this young person and the elevator's broken and they live five flights up and she can't get back up if she brings them to school? These are real anecdotes,” Aviles-Ramos said.

She says the Department of Education is working with community organizations to try to better reach students who are missing school due to problems like the ones she mentioned.

Chronic absenteeism is even worse in other parts of the state, according to the Manhattan Institute: last school year, 62.2% of students in Buffalo were chronically absent. That figure was 59.2% in Rochester and 46.8% in Syracuse.