States / South Dakota

Chronic absence in South Dakota

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

School year 2024-25

20%

of students were chronically absent¹

Chronically absent means attended more than 10 days and missed more than 10% of their enrolled days in the school year.²

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)²⁷

Five-year trend

South Dakota, year by year

South Dakota chronic absence by school year
School year	Chronically absent
2018-19	14%
2020-21	18%
2021-22	22%
2022-23	21%
2023-24	21%
2024-25	20%

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

Where things stand

The numbers

In 2024-25, 20% of South Dakota students were chronically absent, down from 21% in 2023-24, according to state data^1,2,6.
The rate was 14% in 2018-19, before the pandemic. It rose to 22% in 2021-22 and stayed at 21% in 2022-23 and 2023-24^4,1.
Native American students are far more likely to be chronically absent: 50% in 2024-25, down from 54% in 2022-23¹.
The state counts a student as chronically absent after the student has attended more than 10 days and missed more than 10% of enrolled days in the school year².
The state also reports the share of students attending school for 90% or more of enrolled days; it was 87% in 2024-25^1,2.
South Dakota is below the national picture: across reporting states, 22.6% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, which AEI labels 2025²⁷.

Requirements by role

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

All school board members, superintendents and teachers shall cooperate in enforcing the school attendance laws⁷.
Any teacher, school officer or citizen may file a truancy complaint before a circuit court judge against a person in control of a child of compulsory school age who is neither attending school nor being provided with alternative instruction, or whose attendance at school is irregular⁸.
That complaint must name the parent, guardian or person responsible for the child and be verified by oath; if the complaint, together with any accompanying affidavit, does not establish probable cause, it must be dismissed upon motion of the defendant to the circuit court judge⁸.
A student can be counted as attending for up to five days in a school term when a parent or guardian asks for an excuse so the student can attend events of state or nationally recognized youth programs of educational value, or work as a precinct election official if at least eighteen years old⁹.

Counselors

A child may withdraw from school at the age of seventeen with the written consent of a parent, guardian or other custodian. The school district shall keep that documentation and forward a copy to the Department of Education within thirty days of receipt²¹.
A child who is at least sixteen years old may enroll in a school-based or school-contracted high school equivalency test preparation program, or take the test, by presenting any one of the items the law lists²².
Those items are the written consent of a parent, guardian or other custodian; verification that the child will not graduate with the cohort class because of a credit deficiency; authorization from a court services officer; a court order requiring the child to enter the program; or verification that the child is under the direction of the Department of Corrections or enrolled in Job Corps²².
A child who fails the test shall re-enroll in the school district unless the child has withdrawn under the age-seventeen consent rule, and may continue the preparation program or another suitable program the district determines^22,21.
State guidance for families, not law, says a school administrator or school counselor can discuss the effects of absences and plan a strategy for decreasing them²³.

Attendance team

Each school board shall appoint and pay one or more truancy officers every year to enforce the compulsory attendance laws under the board's direction. If a district does not provide one, the school board president is the truancy officer¹².
Each truancy officer shall carefully check the attendance and nonattendance of all children required to attend school in the officer's district or districts, keep an accurate record of those not attending or attending irregularly, and make and file truancy complaints for children who are enrolled in the school district^13,8.
A truancy officer has the powers of a deputy sheriff and may apprehend without a warrant a child of compulsory school age who is absent from the place where the child is enrolled and required by law to attend, unless the child is excused, has withdrawn under the age-seventeen consent rule, or has passed a high school equivalency test. The officer shall place the child in the custody of the person in charge of that place^14,21.
If a judge finds a parent or other person in control guilty on a truancy complaint, the judge shall apply the penalty for failing to send a child to school: a Class 2 misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 1 misdemeanor for each later one^16,17.
Under the juvenile code, a child of compulsory school age who is habitually absent from school without legal excuse is a child in need of supervision¹⁵.

Principals & districts

Each superintendent, or the school board president in a district without one, is responsible for an accurate attendance record for all enrolled children of compulsory school age in accredited schools under their supervision¹⁸.
At regular intervals, the superintendent or president shall report to the truancy officer each enrolled child of compulsory school age who is not excused, has not withdrawn under the age-seventeen consent rule or passed a high school equivalency test, and does not attend or attends irregularly, with the reasons for the absences^18,21.
The school board shall warn a noncompliant parent, guardian or other custodian of a child of compulsory school age who has not been excused, withdrawn or passed a high school equivalency test that the child must enter school and attend regularly, or follow the state's alternative-instruction rules, which start with a notification filed with the Department of Education or the local district. If the warning is not heeded, the board must report the parents or persons in control of the child to the district's truancy officer^7,19.
A school board may excuse a child from attendance because of serious illness in the immediate family that makes the child's presence at home an actual necessity, or the child's presence in school a menace to other pupils' health. The board may require medical evidence^11,10.
It is a Class 2 misdemeanor if a superintendent or school board president fails to make prompt attendance reports as required by law, if school board members neglect their duties under the compulsory attendance laws, or if a truancy officer neglects the duties of the office²⁰.

Recent changes

What changed lately

A 2025 law (SL 2025, ch 80) added a rule letting a child withdraw from school at the age of seventeen with the written consent of a parent, guardian or other custodian²¹.
The same 2025 law set the rules for a child who is at least sixteen years old to enter a high school equivalency test preparation program or take the test, and it amended the superintendent's truancy reporting section, which now leaves out children who have withdrawn or passed that test^22,18.
Under South Dakota's general rule, and subject to the veto and referendum provisions, an act of the Legislature passed at a regular session that does not set its own effective date takes effect on the first day of July after its passage²⁵.
A 2023 amendment (SL 2023, ch 56) narrowed the truancy complaint law. Before it, the law said each truancy officer shall make and file truancy complaints; now officers file them for children enrolled in the school district^8,26.
In 2023, the Department of Education awarded grants to nine school districts to address chronic absenteeism, paid for through the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, with the grants spread over three years^4,5.

Accountability

How the state holds schools to it

South Dakota rates schools on a 100-point School Performance Index, with one index for elementary and middle schools and another for high schools²⁴.
In the elementary and middle school index, attendance is the school quality measure; the state's calculation guide says the attendance rate is based on the percentage of students attending school for 90% or more of enrolled days²⁴.
A school earns that percentage multiplied by 10 as points, out of a possible 10²⁴.
The benchmark was 94% attendance before 2017-18; in 2017-18 it changed to 90%²⁴.
Chronic absenteeism is reported on elementary and middle school report cards; the scored attendance measure is the 90% attendance rate above²⁴.
The high school index has five key indicators: student performance, on-time graduation, high school completion, college and career readiness, and English language learner progress. Attendance is not among them²⁴.
The state's public report card shows state-, district- and school-level data, and groups with fewer than 10 students are suppressed⁶.
The state's Indian Education Advisory Council has asked the Department of Education to keep monitoring chronic absenteeism and to report on Native American student attendance, including reasons for absences and best practices of schools with low absenteeism¹.

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Sources

South Dakota Department of Education (data report prepared with its Office of Assessment and Accountability for the South Dakota Indian Education Advisory Council). Native American Literacy & Absenteeism (data request report; state chronic absenteeism 2020-21 to 2024-25) (opens in a new tab) (undated; contains 2024-25 data; accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Department of Education, presentation to the South Dakota Board of Education Standards. 2024-25 Accountability Report Card, State Level (November 2025 Board of Education Standards meeting) (opens in a new tab) (2025-11 (public release October 24, 2025))
South Dakota Department of Education. Attendance Awareness: Stats to Know (fact sheet, 2022-23 data) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
Gigafact (fact brief by South Dakota News Watch, reporting state Department of Education data). Is South Dakota's rate of chronic absenteeism in schools increasing? (opens in a new tab) (2025-12-09)
The 74 (republished from South Dakota Searchlight). 1 in 5 Students, Majority of Native American Pupils, Chronically Absent in South Dakota (opens in a new tab) (2024-01-11)
South Dakota Department of Education, presentation to the South Dakota Board of Education Standards. 2023-24 Report Card (December 2024 Board of Education Standards meeting) (opens in a new tab) (2024-12)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-16 School board truancy warning--Report to truancy officer (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-20 Complaints against persons responsible for truancy (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-6.1 Student excused from attendance--Events of state, youth programs, and work as precinct election official (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-6 Child excused because of illness in family (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-2 Child excused from school (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-14 Truancy officer employed by district (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-17 Investigations and records of truancy officer (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-19 Truancy officers--Power--Authority to apprehend (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 26-8B-2 Child in need of supervision defined (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-23 Penalties invoked on finding of guilty (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-11 Failure to send child to school as misdemeanor (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-15 Attendance records maintained by superintendent or president of board--Reports required (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-3 Alternative instruction--Notification--Requirements (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-18 Neglect of duty by superintendent, president of board, school board, or truancy officer--Penalty (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-1.3 Withdrawal from school--Record of withdrawal documentation--Copies to secretary (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 13-27-1.4 High school equivalency test--Requirements--Process (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Department of Education. Attendance Awareness (state attendance web page, guidance for families) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Department of Education. Accountability Calculation Guide (2024-2025 ESSA State Plan Addendum items) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
South Dakota Legislature (Codified Laws). SDCL 2-14-16 Effective date of legislative acts (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
KELOLAND News (Capitol News Bureau). SD Legislature might change law on student truancy (HB-1191; page tagged 2023 South Dakota Legislative Session) (opens in a new tab) (2023 legislative session; 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)