States / Louisiana

Chronic absence in Louisiana

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

School year 2025-26

21.8%

of students were chronically absent¹

Chronically absent means enrolled at least 10 days and absent 10% or more of days enrolled.¹

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)⁸

Five-year trend

Louisiana, year by year

Louisiana chronic absence by school year
School year	Chronically absent
2020-21	28.2%
2021-22	19.9%
2022-23	21.9%
2023-24	24.6%
2024-25	22.5%
2025-26	21.8%

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

Where things stand

The numbers

In 2025-26, 21.8% of Louisiana students were chronically absent: they were enrolled at least 10 days and missed 10% or more of those days¹.
The state counts every kind of absence toward this rate: excused, unexcused, suspensions and expulsions⁷.
The rate fell for a second year, from 24.6% in 2023-24 and 22.5% in 2024-25, but it is still above the 19.9% the state reports for 2021-22^5,6,1,3.
High school is the hardest stretch: in 2025-26, 28.9% of students in grades 9-12 were chronically absent, compared with 18.0% in grades PreK-5¹.
Gaps by group are wide: in 2025-26, 26.4% of economically disadvantaged students were chronically absent, compared with 10.7% of other students, and the rate for students in foster care was 36.6%¹.
Louisiana's 2024-25 rate, 22.5%, was close to the US rate of 22.6% in 2024-25^6,8.

Requirements by role

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

In public schools, attendance must be checked each school day and at the beginning of each class period, and verified by the teacher keeping the record; the record must be open to inspection by the visiting teacher (supervisor of child welfare and attendance) at all reasonable times⁹.
In public schools, teachers and principals must cooperate with visiting teachers and report in writing the name, birthdate, race, parents and residence of each pupil within thirty days after the term begins, and make the other attendance reports the state board or department requires⁹.
On the first day of school each year, homeroom teachers of students in grades four through twelve must explain, and answer questions about, the statement of compliance those students sign each year, which includes a promise to attend school daily (except for illness or another excused absence) and arrive on time¹⁰.

Counselors

A student may be absent up to three days in any school year for mental or behavioral health; these absences must be excused when written certification is provided as the student handbook requires, the student must get the chance to make up missed work, and after the second such day the student must be referred to the appropriate school support personnel¹¹.
A student temporarily unable to attend because of illness, accident or health treatment must receive instruction at home or in the hospital; after 10 days of such absence, a student not already identified with a disability must be referred to the school building level committee (SBLC) to decide whether a section 504 referral is needed, and homebound instruction must start on the eleventh school day after more than 10 consecutive days absent for a qualifying illness¹².
State guidance says the school attendance team typically includes at least a school administrator plus a counselor or social worker and other staff with access to student data¹³.

Attendance team

A student is habitually absent or tardy when the problem continues after all reasonable efforts by school personnel, truancy officers or other law enforcement have failed to correct it after the fifth unexcused absence or fifth unexcused tardy within any school semester; nonpublic schools follow a separate rule¹⁴.
Visiting teachers and supervisors of child welfare and attendance must report a juvenile who is habitually absent or tardy to the family or juvenile court as a truant child, under the Children's Code rules on families in need of services; with the superintendent's approval, they must file court proceedings to enforce the attendance law^14,15.
When no valid reason is found for the nonenrollment or unexcused absence of a student within the compulsory school attendance age, supervisors of child welfare and attendance and home-school coordinators must give the parent or guardian written notice, in person or by registered mail, requiring enrollment or attendance within three days of the notice¹⁶.
Tardiness includes leaving or checking out early without an excuse, but not arriving late to class while moving between classes¹⁴.
State guidance calls for analyzing attendance data weekly to find students near or at the 10% absence threshold or with three or more unexcused absences or tardies in the semester¹³.

Principals & districts

On or before a student's third unexcused absence or unexcused tardy, the principal or designee must notify the parent or legal guardian in writing and hold a conference with them; the notice must explain the parent's legal duty to enforce attendance and the civil penalties for habitual absence or tardiness, and the parent must sign a receipt¹⁴.
Each school must have a system to attempt verbal notice, or written notice if verbal notice cannot be given, to the parent when a child has been absent five school days in schools on a semester basis, or ten days in schools not on a semester basis¹⁵.
Public schools must immediately report any unexplained, unexcused or illegal absence, or habitual tardiness, to the visiting teacher; no public school pupil may leave school during the day on his own authority, and the principal or designee must make all reasonable efforts to notify the parent verbally of any such absence⁹.
Since the 2024-25 school year, student attendance must be submitted to the state education department daily, including the number of students present, the number absent and each student's truancy status¹⁷.
A student who is absent, including a suspended student, must be allowed to submit missed assignments and tests and is eligible for the same credit and grades when the work is completed satisfactorily and on time¹⁷.

Recent changes

What changed lately

August 1, 2023: Act 318 (HB 353) took effect, allowing a student up to three absences in any school year for mental or behavioral health, excused when written certification is provided, with referral to school support personnel after the second day^18,11.
March 2024: the state board (BESE) approved Bulletin 741 changes on absences and attendance, including academic recovery and daily reporting of attendance data; absences are now grouped as excused, unexcused, or suspension/expulsion¹⁹.
2024-25 school year: schools began submitting student attendance to the state daily¹⁷.
August 1, 2024: Act 386 (HB 629) took effect, adding duties for parents of truant students²⁰. Under the current law, the parent or legal guardian of a truant student must make sure the student makes up missed school work through after-school tutoring sessions, weekend make-up classes or other remediation opportunities, as determined by the school board, until the student has caught up; the parent must also attend meetings at the school at least monthly on the student's progress, until the student has caught up on missed school work, and any assistance fair the school district holds on supports for families; failure to comply may subject a parent to the penalties in R.S. 14:92.2¹⁴.
Act 386 also added a duty for the principal of each school or his designee to note any concerns school personnel have about a child's school attendance on the back of any Supplemental Security Income form the school receives for that child^20,14.
The state's attendance guidance, The Power of Presence (updated as of 05.01.2026), offers school systems four tiers of support, from universal support for all systems to monthly sessions for select systems with significant attendance challenges; the guidance does not create new legal requirements^13,7.

Accountability

How the state holds schools to it

Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, schools and districts are rated on a new scorecard, Grow. Achieve. Thrive., built around three expectations: academic growth, proficiency, and, for high schools, on-time graduation and readiness^21,22.
None of the measures in the state's summary of the new system is attendance or chronic absence²².
The state publishes chronic absence rates each year for the state, each school system and each school, overall and by student group, along with attendance rates and truancy rates^23,1.
The state education department has published state attendance goals for 2025 covering chronic absenteeism and truancy²⁴.

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Sources

Louisiana Department of Education. 2025-2026 Chronic Absenteeism Rate Overall & by Subgroup (state data file, State sheet) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. 2020-2021 Chronic Absenteeism Rate Overall & by Subgroup (state data file, State sheet) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. 2021-2022 Chronic Absenteeism Rate Overall & by Subgroup (state data file, State sheet) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. 2022-2023 Chronic Absenteeism Rate Overall & by Subgroup (state data file, State sheet) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. 2023-2024 Chronic Absenteeism Rate Overall & by Subgroup (state data file, State sheet) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. 2024-2025 Chronic Absenteeism Rate Overall & by Subgroup (state data file, State sheet) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. Attendance: The Power of Presence (key terms) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
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)
Louisiana State Legislature. La. R.S. 17:232(B)(1), Attendance records (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana State Legislature. La. R.S. 17:235.2(C), Statements of compliance (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana State Legislature. La. R.S. 17:226(A)(1)(b), Exemptions from compulsory attendance (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Administrative Code via Cornell LII (BESE Bulletin 741). La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § CXV-1103(E), Compulsory Attendance (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. The Power of Presence: Louisiana's Student Attendance Strategy (guidance, updated 05.01.2026) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana State Legislature. La. R.S. 17:233(B)(1)(a), Habitual absence or tardiness (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana State Legislature. La. R.S. 17:221(A)(4), School attendance (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Administrative Code via Cornell LII (BESE Bulletin 741). La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § CXV-1117(A), Child Welfare and Attendance (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Administrative Code via Cornell LII (BESE Bulletin 741). La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § CXV-1105(F), Absences and Attendance (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana State Legislature. Résumé Digest, Act 318 (HB 353), 2023 Regular Session (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. Student Attendance: Guidelines for Absences and Attendance (one-pager) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana State Legislature. Résumé Digest, Act 386 (HB 629), 2024 Regular Session (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. Accountability (Grow. Achieve. Thrive.) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. Grow. Achieve. Thrive. Louisiana's Revised Accountability System (one-pager) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. Data & Reports: School System Attributes (student attendance data) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))
Louisiana Department of Education. State Attendance Goals 2025 (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-13 (accessed))