No.

The number of students who are marked as chronically absent in the South Dakota public school system has stayed flat since falling from a COVID-era spike.

Chronically absent students jumped from 14% in 2018-19 to 22% in 2021-22 and have stayed at 21% since then. Chronic absenteeism is when students miss more than 10% or more of school – about two days per month.

Nationally, chronic absenteeism reached 31% in 2021-22 and fell to 28% in 2022-23.

South Dakota’s chronic absenteeism is largely fueled by absences at Native American schools. During the 2023-24 school year, 51% of Indigenous students were chronically absent from school.

Chronic absenteeism is linked to a higher likelihood of students not finishing high school.

In 2023, the state Department of Education awarded grants to nine South Dakota school districts to address chronic absenteeism by implementing programs that will fund transportation, community engagement opportunities and mentoring, among others.

Source

South Dakota Department of Education, Attendance matters; South Dakota News Watch, Native absenteeism challenges SD educators: 'There's no silver bullet' South Dakota Department of Education, 2022-23 Report Card data; NPR, Research has linked chronic absenteeism with lower academic achievement and a higher likelihood of dropping out of high school.

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Send questions or feedback to factbrief@sdnewswatch.org. This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email to get stories when they're published. Contact Michael Klinski at michael.klinski@sdnewswatch.org.