{
  "id": 3751079,
  "title": "Chronic absenteeism rate fell in Colorado schools last year, still well above pre-pandemic level",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/chronic-absenteeism-rate-fell-in-colorado-schools-last-year-still",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-27T14:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Chalkbeat",
    "slug": "chalkbeat",
    "url": "https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2026/08/27/chronic-absenteeism-rate-down-but-still-higher-than-pre-pandemic/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "According to data released by the Colorado Department of Education, the chronic absenteeism rate in Colorado schools fell last year, although it remained above pre-pandemic levels. A student is considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of their school days. In the 2025-26 school year, 27.5% of Colorado students were chronically absent, down from 28.4% in the previous year and nearly identical to the rate in 2023-24. Prior to the pandemic, in 2019-20, the chronic absenteeism rate was 22.6%.\n\nThe Colorado Department of Education aims to reduce chronic absenteeism to 15% by the 2027-28 school year. To achieve this goal, the department launched a campaign called \"Every School Day Matters!\" in 2024, hoping that 80% of school districts would participate, but only less than a third have so far.\n\nWhile the statewide chronic absenteeism rate decreased, disparities persisted among student groups. High school seniors had the highest absenteeism rate, and students with disabilities, English language learners, and those from low-income families were disproportionately affected. Additionally, there were significant racial disparities, with 33% of Black students and 37% of Latino students being chronically absent, compared to 20% of white students. The rate for Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students increased from 51.1% to 52.1%.\n\nChronic absenteeism rates decreased in 109 of Colorado's 182 school districts and boards of cooperative education services (BOCES), while remaining the same or increasing in the others. Denver Public Schools saw a drop in the rate from 38.1% to 36.6%, while Jeffco Public Schools, the state's second-largest district, saw a slight decrease from 26.6% to 26.2%. However, the Sheridan School District, south of Denver, experienced a sharp increase, from 34.6% to 66.2%, likely due to a teachers' strike that lasted over three weeks in April.",
  "summary": "The share of Colorado students who were chronically absent last school year declined from the year before, although the percentage remained above pre-pandemic levels, according to data released Thursday by the Colorado Department of…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}