Minnesota students are skipping school in much higher numbers
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Three out of every 10 Minnesota kids were chronically absent from school last year, a sharp rise since 2019, when 85% of kids were going school regularly.
Driving the news: For the first time in four years, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) released data on chronic absenteeism. It provides a grim look at how many kids stopped going to school during the pandemic.
- Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days.
Why it matters: Kids who miss more than two weeks of class a year during middle school have only a 66% chance of graduating high school, versus 93% for students who miss two or fewer days, according to our education reporting partners at The 74.
Zoom in: The problem is even worse at low-income schools and among students of color, reports The 74.
By the numbers: In Minneapolis Public Schools the rate of kids attending school regularly fell from 79% to 46% from 2019 to 2022.
- While the attendance rate for white students dropped from 90% to 59%, the number for Black students fell from 71% to 32%.
- For Native Americans the number fell from 44% to 24%; and for Latinos, from 78% to 44%. Attendance among children receiving special education services plummeted from 63% to 37%.
What they're saying: In a statement to Axios, MPS said it's expanding its Check & Connect program that assigns monitors to meet regularly with students and provide tutoring and help with their homework.
- Thanks to an MDE grant, MPS is increasing the program to 15 additional schools this year, up from eight last year.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that the attendance rate that fell from 2019 to 2022 was the share of kids who attend school regularly.