States / District of Columbia

Chronic absence in District of Columbia

Where things stand, what state rules ask of each role, and what is changing. For school and district leaders.

School year 2024-25

39.5%

of students were chronically absent¹

Chronically absent means absent, excused or unexcused, including partial and full-day absences, for at least 10 percent of enrolled instructional days.¹

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)¹⁰

Five-year trend

District of Columbia, year by year

District of Columbia chronic absence by school year
School year	Chronically absent
2019-20	27.3%
2020-21	31.1%
2021-22	48.0%
2022-23	43.1%
2023-24	39.2%
2024-25	39.5%

Dashed bars mark years the state did not publish a rate.

Where things stand

The numbers

In 2024-25, 39.5% of District of Columbia students in grades K-12 were chronically absent, up 0.3 percentage points from 2023-24¹.
That was 32,889 students; the rate peaked at 48.0% in 2021-22 and was 30.2% in 2018-19, before the pandemic¹.
High school is hardest hit: 57.6% of high schoolers were chronically absent in 2024-25, compared with less than 34% in other grade bands¹.
Economically disadvantaged students were three times more likely to be chronically absent than their peers, and students who attended multiple schools during the year were 3.2 times more likely¹.
Chronic truancy, meaning at least 10 full- or partial-day unexcused absences in a school year, held steady at 36.8% in 2024-25¹.
DC is far above the national picture: across reporting states, 22.6% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, which AEI labels 2025¹⁰.

Requirements by role

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

Teachers at each school must keep an accurate daily attendance record for every student covered by the compulsory attendance law, and the records must be open for inspection at all times by the Board, the State Superintendent, school attendance officers or others authorized to enforce the law².

Counselors

After five full-day unexcused absences in one marking period, such as a quarter or trimester, the school must refer the student to a school-based student support team within two school days³.
The team will meet within five school days of the referral and regularly thereafter to review and address the student's attendance and determine the underlying causes of the student's unexcused absences¹¹.
The team's work includes finding the underlying cause, working with the student's IEP team where applicable, recommending academic, diagnostic or social work services, and building an action plan with the student and parent³.
After 10 full-day unexcused absences during a school year, the team must notify the school administrator within two school days with a plan for immediate intervention^3,1.

Attendance team

For a child of compulsory school age (5 through 17) enrolled in a public school, an absence is unexcused unless a parent, guardian or other person with custody or control gives the school a valid excuse within 5 school days of the child's return^2,1.
Schools must publish the categories of absences they accept as excused and make these policies available to students and families¹.
Within 2 business days of a student's 10th unexcused absence, the school must notify OSSE, which sends the parent a truancy prevention resource guide unless the parent already received one⁴.
Within 2 business days of a minor student's 10th unexcused absence during a school year, the school must send the minor's parent information from the Chief of Police on attendance requirements and criminal penalties, and a letter saying the parent may be violating attendance requirements and may be subject to prosecution⁵.

Principals & districts

The school must refer a student aged 5 through 13 to the Child and Family Services Agency no later than 2 business days after 10 unexcused full school day absences within a school year⁴.
For a student aged 14 through 17, the school must refer to the Court Social Services Division of the Superior Court and to the Office of the Attorney General Juvenile Section no later than 2 business days after 15 unexcused full school day absences within a school year⁴.
Schools have discretion on these referrals when the 10th or 15th unexcused absence falls within the final 10 school days of a school year⁴.
Schools taking part in the District's truancy pilot with the Department of Human Services (DHS) during School Year 2025-2026 are exempt from these referral rules; they must instead refer students aged 14 through 17 to DHS within 2 school days after 15 unexcused full school day absences, and students aged 10 through 13 after 10⁴.
Within 60 days after each school year ends, each school must report attendance data to OSSE and make it public, including how many students were chronically absent, the work of its student support teams and its absence policy².

Recent changes

What changed lately

The Education Code Adjustments Amendment Act of 2026 (D.C. Law 26-178, effective Sept. 15, 2026) refocuses attendance reporting on chronic absenteeism and attendance outcomes^2,6.
It requires OSSE, beginning in 2026, to keep a public dashboard for each DC Public Schools and public charter school, updated monthly with chronic truancy and chronic absence rates and filterable by grade and ward².
OSSE launched that public attendance dashboard on April 22, 2026; it takes over from OSSE's midyear attendance briefs⁷.
D.C. Law 26-55 (Dec. 6, 2025) wrote into the D.C. Code a 2025-2026 truancy pilot with the Department of Human Services in no fewer than 10 schools with grades 6 through 12 whose truancy rate was over 35% in 2024-2025; DHS must publish a final report by September 30, 2026⁴.
In the pilot, DHS must refer a 10- to 13-year-old student on to the Child and Family Services Agency if the parent does not respond to DHS outreach within 10 business days or declines services⁴.
It follows a 2024-2025 pilot in 5 secondary schools with truancy rates over 50% in 2023-2024, which were exempt from the court referral rule for students aged 14 through 17⁴.
Starting in 2024-25, OSSE counts partial-day unexcused absences toward chronic truancy; earlier years were recalculated, which may make them higher than first reported¹.
The District's absentee intervention and student support team regulation was last amended effective 1/27/2023⁹.

Accountability

How the state holds schools to it

Chronic absenteeism and attendance growth both count in the DC School Report Card accountability score, which is out of 100 and built on OSSE's ESSA State Plan⁸.
In the standard frameworks, each is worth 5 points for elementary schools without pre-K and for middle schools, 4 for elementary schools with pre-K, and 7.5 for high schools⁸.
Elementary schools with pre-K also get 1 point for chronic absenteeism in pre-K⁸.
The chronic absenteeism metric counts excused and unexcused, partial and full-day absences, and flags students absent for at least 10 percent of enrolled instructional days⁸.
Before the annual December release of the DC School Report Card, all heads of schools must validate their students' attendance data and two attendance metrics: chronic absenteeism and attendance growth¹.
By November 30 of each year, OSSE must publicly report on the state of absenteeism in the District².

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Sources

Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), District of Columbia. District of Columbia Attendance Report, School Year 2024-25 (opens in a new tab) (2025-11-30)
Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Law Library (Code of the District of Columbia). D.C. Code § 38-203. Enforcement; penalties. (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), District of Columbia. SY25-26 Truancy One-Pager for Parents and Guardians (state guidance summarizing 5-A DCMR § 2103 and D.C. Code §§ 38-207, 38-208) (opens in a new tab) (2025-26 school year; accessed 2026-10-13)
Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Law Library (Code of the District of Columbia). D.C. Code § 38-208. Truancy procedures; inter-agency coordination. (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Law Library (Code of the District of Columbia). D.C. Code § 38-207. Authority of police over truant child. (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Law Library (Code of the District of Columbia). D.C. Law 26-178. Education Code Adjustments Amendment Act of 2026. (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), District of Columbia. OSSE Launches Citywide Dashboard to Help Track Student Attendance Across DC (press release) (opens in a new tab) (2026-04-22)
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), District of Columbia. 2026 DC School Report Card Technical Guide (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-01)
Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia, Office of Documents and Administrative Issuances (DCRegs). 5-A DCMR § 2103. Absentee Intervention and School-Based Student Support Teams (section history) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
American Enterprise Institute (Nat Malkus). From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition? Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2025 (opens in a new tab) (2026-06-30)
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). Compulsory Attendance Laws for LEAs (Unofficial), Updated June 2019 (quotes 5-A DCMR § 2103.2(c)(3)) (opens in a new tab) (Updated June 2019; accessed 2026-10-13)