© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Rate of chronic absenteeism in Massachusetts public schools is down, but not enough

A school bus in West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Jill Kaufman
/
NEPM
A school bus in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

The rate of chronic students absenteeism in Massachusetts public schools has decreased by almost five percentage points in the past year, according to state education officials.

Russell Johnston, the acting Commissioner of Education, provided data Tuesday to state Board of Education members at their regular monthly meeting.

"Let's keep this in mind," Johnston said, "24.5 [% of students] in March of 2023, to 19.6 [% of students] just this March."

More work needs to be done to reach pre-pandemic levels of about 13%, Johnston said.

The decrease represents almost 45,000 fewer students considered to be chronically absent. Johnston credited educators for getting more students back to school, helping raise awareness about the issue and working with families to engage students.

"We know that a lot of students have been absent because of continued worries about illness, mental health issues and then just a change in habits," Johnston said.

It's been effective to address all three challenges Johnston said.

The state's top education officials were reminded that in June, the board will hold an extra meeting to discuss student data that looks at academic fallout from the pandemic.

Jill Kaufman has been a reporter and host at NEPM since 2005. Before that she spent 10 years at WBUR in Boston, producing The Connection with Christopher Lydon, and reporting and hosting. Jill was also a host of NHPR's daily talk show The Exchange and an editor at PRX's The World.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Related Content