States / Hawaii

Chronic absence in Hawaii

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

School year 2024-25

24%

of students were chronically absent¹

Chronically absent means miss 10 percent or more of the school year.¹

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)²

Five-year trend

Hawaii, year by year

Hawaii chronic absence by school year
School year	Chronically absent
2018-19	14%
2020-21	18%
2021-22	34%
2022-23	27%
2023-24	25%
2024-25	24%

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

Where things stand

The numbers

In 2024-25, 24% of Hawaii students were chronically absent, down from 34% in 2021-22, in AEI's compilation of state data¹.
Hawaii's own yearly measure is regular attendance: the share of students attending at least 90% of instructional days. In the department's schools it rose for the fourth year in a row, to 76.8% in 2025-26, from 66.1% in 2021-22^3,5.
Across all public schools, including charter schools, regular attendance was 77% in 2025-26; 163,651 students were enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 that year^4,5.
Under an earlier state measure that counted students absent 15 days or more, 30% were chronically absent in 2022-23, down from 37% the year before⁶.
The department reports that students who attend at least 90% of instructional days have substantially higher proficiency and graduation rates than students who do not attend regularly³.
Nationally, 22.6% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, so Hawaii's 24% was above the national rate^2,1.

Requirements by role

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

Schools must keep accurate attendance records of all enrolled students and monitor them regularly, under Board of Education policy¹⁴.
When a child of school age persists in staying away from school, the family court judge must summon the child and the parent, guardian or other person in charge of the child, upon a proper petition, citation or complaint made by the schoolteacher, any other officer or agent of the department, a police officer, or any other person. This does not apply to a child not liable to compulsory attendance¹¹.

Counselors

Attendance is not compulsory for a child who has reached the age of sixteen when the principal has determined that the child's behavior is disruptive to other students, teachers or staff, or that the child's non-attendance is chronic and has become a significant factor that hinders the child's learning, and the principal and the child's teacher or counselor, in consultation with the child and the parent, guardian or other responsible adult, develop an alternative educational plan for the child¹⁰.
That plan must include a process that permits the child to resume school, and the principal must file it with the child's school record. If the responsible adult disagrees with the plan, that adult is responsible for obtaining appropriate educational services for the child¹⁰.

Attendance team

State guidance says students who have more than 18 unexcused absences and have not responded to school-based interventions may be referred to Family Court⁷.
Except as otherwise provided in the family court law, the family court has exclusive original jurisdiction over a child living or found within the circuit who is neither attending school nor receiving educational services required by law, whether through the child's own misbehavior or nonattendance or otherwise¹⁵.
If it is proved in family court that the person responsible for a child had not used proper diligence to enforce the child's regular attendance, that person is guilty of a petty misdemeanor. This does not apply to a child not liable to compulsory attendance¹¹.
Attendance is not compulsory for a child who has reached the fifteenth anniversary of birth, is suitably employed, and has been excused from attendance by the superintendent or the superintendent's authorized representative, or by a family court judge. The employer must notify the child's school within three days after the child's employment ends¹⁰.
Dates of a student's attendance must be made available to authorized police officers on request¹³.

Principals & districts

Unless excluded from school or excepted from attendance, children who will be at least five years old on or before July 31 of the school year, and who will not be eighteen by January 1 of the school year, must attend a public or private school, and the parent or other person responsible for the child must send the child¹⁰.
The Department of Education is charged with enforcing state law §302A-1132 to §302A-1135, which include the compulsory attendance rules and the penalty for a responsible adult who does not use proper diligence. Police keep their own responsibility for enforcing them, but that enforcement is subject to the department's plans and policies^12,11.
Board policy requires the department to set procedures for the admission and attendance of students in line with laws, rules, policies and administrative regulations, and to make every effort to ensure and enforce attendance under the compulsory attendance law¹⁴.
Attendance is not compulsory where a child is enrolled in an appropriate alternative educational program approved by the superintendent or the superintendent's authorized representative under the department's plans and policies, or where notification of intent to home school has been submitted to the principal of the public school the child would otherwise attend, in accordance with department rules¹⁰.
Attendance is also not compulsory for a child who is physically or mentally unable to attend (deafness and blindness excepted), shown by a licensed physician's certificate; for a child who has graduated from high school; or where, after investigation by the family court, it has been shown that the child may properly remain away from school for any other reason¹⁰.

Recent changes

What changed lately

The Board of Education's 2023–2029 Strategic Plan sets the desired outcome that all students desire to and attend school regularly. The department's Implementation Plan was approved in May 2023^16,17.
The plan's attendance action items included an inter-agency work group on early intervention for school attendance, a partnership with Family Court on families and students with excessive absences, and programs to re-engage students with excessive absences (all SY2023-24), plus promotional campaigns on regular attendance (SY2024-25)¹⁷.
Since the 2023-24 school year, the department has collected and reported eight key performance indicators of student learning. One is regular attendance: the percent of students attending 90% or more days of instruction^5,17.
In its September 2024 Strive HI release, the department announced a new attendance campaign, "Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow", on the importance of consistent school attendance⁹.

Accountability

How the state holds schools to it

Strive HI is the department's school accountability and improvement system. Its annual report shows progress on indicators required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, plus state-adopted measures¹⁸.
In 2024 the department said Strive HI's measures include chronic absenteeism; the system was last modified in 2017 to align with the Every Student Succeeds Act⁹.
Current Strive HI reports measure attendance as regular attendance, the percent of students attending 90% of instructional days, as one of the key performance indicators under the 2023-2029 Strategic Plan^4,3.
Reports are published statewide and for each school, and results are also reported by key student characteristics⁵.
The department defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% or more of the school year for any reason, excused or unexcused. It defines regular attendance as attending at least 90% of the time, or missing no more than 17 days in the school year^7,8.

What’s working

Efforts with results

On Molokaʻi, schools brought back an islandwide early intervention program that sets what schools do as absences add up; for example, at four absences parents receive a notification letter with an attendance summary¹⁹.
At Maunaloa Elementary on Molokaʻi, the department reports the school's absence rate fell to 6% in the latest school year reported, from 42% in 2022-23 and 63% in 2021-22¹⁹.
At Kaʻelepulu Elementary, where support can include morning check-ins and home visits, regular attendance rose from 84% in 2021-22 to 95% in 2024-25, above the state average of 76%²⁰.

Working on chronic absence in Hawaii?

Agenteach helps counselors, teachers, and attendance teams follow up with students who are missing school, and keeps a record of every step.

Book time Become a pilot school

Sources

American Enterprise Institute (Nat Malkus). From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition? Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2025, Table A3. State-Reported Chronic Absenteeism Data, by State, School Years 2017-25 (columns 2017 to 2025 by spring year; the last value is 2025 = the 2024-25 school year; rates rounded to whole percent) (opens in a new tab) (2026-06-30)
American Enterprise Institute. From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition? Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2025 (opens in a new tab) (2026-06-30)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Hawaiʻi public schools continue post-pandemic recovery, with gains in math and attendance (news release, Oct 8, 2026; 2025-26 Strive HI results) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-08)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Statewide Strive HI Snapshot, 2025-26 (all public schools, K-12) (opens in a new tab) (2026-09-04)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Department of Education Report on Strategic Plan Key Performance Indicators: Strive HI 2026 Report (memo to the Board of Education Student Achievement Committee, October 8, 2026) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-08)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Hawaii sees improvement in math scores, maintains previous gains in language arts, science (news release, 2023) (opens in a new tab) (2023)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Attendance Policy (opens in a new tab) (2026)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Student Attendance (opens in a new tab) (2026)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Hawaiʻi public schools see improvement in science scores, higher student attendance rates (news release, Sep 19, 2024) (opens in a new tab) (2024-09-19)
Hawaii State Legislature (Hawaii Revised Statutes). HRS §302A-1132 Attendance compulsory; exceptions (opens in a new tab) (current)
Hawaii State Legislature (Hawaii Revised Statutes). HRS §302A-1135 Penalty (opens in a new tab) (current)
Hawaii State Legislature (Hawaii Revised Statutes). HRS §302A-1136 Enforcement (opens in a new tab) (current)
Hawaii State Legislature (Hawaii Revised Statutes). HRS §302A-1137 Attendance records; availability to authorized police officers (opens in a new tab) (current)
Hawaii State Board of Education. Board Policy 106-3: Admission and Attendance (amended 06/21/2016) (opens in a new tab) (2016-06-21)
Hawaii State Legislature (Hawaii Revised Statutes). HRS §571-11 Jurisdiction; children (family court) (opens in a new tab) (current)
Hawaii State Department of Education. 2023–2029 Strategic Plan (opens in a new tab) (2026)
Hawaii State Department of Education. 2023-29 Implementation Plan (PDF) (opens in a new tab) (2023-05)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Strive HI Dashboard (opens in a new tab) (2026)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Significant boost in attendance on Molokaʻi (news story, Sep 27, 2024) (opens in a new tab) (2024-09-27)
Hawaii State Department of Education. Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow: How 4 HIDOE schools support regular student attendance (news story, Sep 24, 2025) (opens in a new tab) (2025-09-24)