States / South Carolina

Chronic absence in South Carolina

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

School year 2022-23

22.5%

of students were chronically absent¹

Chronically absent means missed 50% or more of the school day on 10% or more of enrolled days, for any reason.²

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)¹⁰

South Carolina chronic absence by school year
School year	Chronically absent
2018-19	13.75%
2022-23	22.5%
2024-25	not published

South Carolina chronic absence by school year

School year

Chronically absent

2018-19

13.75%

2022-23

22.5%

2024-25

not published

The numbers

In 2022-23, 22.5% of South Carolina students were chronically absent, 191,162 students in all, according to the state education department¹.
That was well above the pre-pandemic rate of 13.75% in 2018-19¹.
Chronic absence goes with lower achievement: in 2023-24, only 37% of chronically absent students were on grade level in English language arts, compared with 57.8% of their peers³.
In math, 23% of chronically absent students were on grade level, compared with 47% of their peers³.
In 2022-23, South Carolina's rate was below the national rate of 25.7%; nationally, the rate fell to 22.6% in 2024-25^1,10.
Newer statewide rates are on the state's school report cards: the 2026 report cards show the rate for 2024-25⁴.

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

Every district must adopt a policy that defines and lists lawful and unlawful absences, under rules the State Board of Education sets^9,8.
Lawful absences include, but are not limited to, a student's own illness when attending school would endanger the student's or others' health, an illness or death in the immediate family, a recognized religious holiday of the student's faith, and activities the principal approves in advance⁹.
Unlawful absences include, but are not limited to, absences without the parents' knowledge and absences without acceptable cause with the parents' knowledge⁹.
A child ages 6 to 17 is truant after three consecutive unlawful absences or a total of five unlawful absences; a suspension does not count as an unlawful absence for truancy⁹.

Counselors

State law requires the State Board's rules to make school officials intervene immediately when a student has three consecutive unlawful absences or a total of five; to intervene means to find the reasons for the absences and develop a plan with the student and parent to improve attendance⁸.
Once a child is truant, school officials must make every reasonable effort to meet with the parents or guardians to find the reasons for the absences; these efforts should include phone calls and home visits, during and after normal business hours, plus written messages and emails⁹.
School officials must develop a written intervention plan to address the absences together with the student and the parents or guardians⁹.
If a student moves to another South Carolina public school, intervention plans shall be forwarded to the receiving school, and school officials will contact the parents and local team members to review and revise the plan as appropriate; court-ordered plans may be amended through application to the court⁹.

Attendance team

The intervention plan must include, at a minimum: a person to lead the intervention team (who may be from another agency), the reasons for the unlawful absences, the actions the parents and student will take, documented referrals to service providers and, if available, alternative school and community-based programs, the team members' actions, and the actions to take if unlawful absences continue⁹.
The plan must also include the parents' signature or evidence that attempts were made to involve them, documentation of team members' involvement, and guidelines for revising the plan⁹.
Under the state rule, a chronic truant is a child ages 12 to 17 who has been through the school intervention process, has reached the level of a habitual truant, has been referred to Family Court and placed on an order to attend school, and continues to accumulate unlawful absences; if other community alternatives and referrals fail to remedy the attendance problem, the chronic truant may be referred to Family Court for violating the earlier court order, all school intervention plans for the child and family must accompany the contempt petition, along with a written recommendation from the school on the action the court should take, and before petitioning for contempt the school and district must exhaust all reasonable alternatives⁹.
School officials may use a team approach; team members may include representatives from social services, community mental health, substance abuse and prevention, and others the district deems appropriate⁹.
Under the state rule, a habitual truant is a child age 12 to 17 who fails to comply with the intervention plan and accumulates two or more additional unlawful absences; this child may need court intervention, and the written plan and documentation of non-compliance must be attached to any truancy petition; a student is also considered a habitual truant if the student or parents refuse to take part in intervention and the student accumulates two or more additional unlawful absences⁹.

Principals & districts

Each district must have a policy on intervention requirements, and its plan for improving attendance must follow any applicable statutes⁹.
State law and rule require the district board of trustees, or its designee, to promptly approve or disapprove any student's absences beyond ten days, whether lawful, unlawful or both, for students in grades K-12^9,8.
A child ages 6 to 17 should never be referred to Family Court for an order to attend school before the school has completed written intervention planning with the parents, and a consent order must not be used as an intervention plan; if parents refuse to cooperate with planning, the district may refer the student to Family Court, and a report shall be filed against the parents with the Department of Social Services⁹.
Only the district board of trustees or its designee may start these court proceedings: when it cannot obtain the attendance of a child of compulsory school age, it must report the nonattendance in writing to the juvenile court or other county court with jurisdiction over juveniles, but not a magistrate's court⁸.
Each court referral must include a copy of the plan, the corrective action the district recommends and other available programs or alternatives, and the plan must be attached to the petition and served on the student and parents; any petition for contempt of court must include a written report of the corrective actions the district tried, the graduated sanctions or alternatives to incarceration available in the community, and the district's recommendation to the court⁹.

What changed lately

2027 school report cards: South Carolina will report the chronic absenteeism rate for the same school year as the other report card indicators, ending the one-year lag used in earlier report cards⁵.
Start of the 2025-26 school year: the state Education Oversight Committee launched Be Present S.C., a public awareness campaign on daily attendance, which kicked off July 28th with Fifty-five public schools taking part⁶.
April 2024: the state education department published a Handbook on Attendance, guidance designed to help districts expand prevention and early intervention and move beyond a focus on individual intervention plans for habitually truant students¹.

How the state holds schools to it

Chronic absence is not part of South Carolina's school ratings: the chronic absenteeism rate is reported on school, district and state report cards but is not included in the accountability measure⁴.
Overall school ratings come from indicator ratings that include Academic Achievement, Student Progress, High School Student Success and Graduation Rate⁷.
Report cards show the chronic absenteeism rate in their School Climate section; the 2026 report cards show the rate for 2024-25⁴.
For report cards, a student is chronically absent after missing at least half of the school day on at least 10 percent of enrolled days, about 18 days in a full year, for any reason; the measure covers students enrolled more than 10 days⁴.
The state education department is directed to run a standard system for reporting truancy rates school by school⁹.