Since returning to in school learning after the pandemic, D.C. has made a commitment to reduce chronic absence (or the percentage of students missing at least 10 percent of the school year) from a high of 48 percent in school year 2021-22 to 24 percent in school year 2027-28. This week’s chart examines how chronic absenteeism has varied by ward and school.
As of school year 2023-24, 40 percent of students were chronically absent. For school year 2024-25, final data are not available. However, as of February 2025, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)’s midyear updates on attendance in kindergarten through grade 12 show that chronic absenteeism was up by 1.6 percentage points over the same time during the previous year.[1] Students in all grade bands and almost all main demographic groups experienced increases.
At the school level, there is a lot of variation. Schools in Wards 1 and 4 have the largest increases on average as of February, comparing school years 2023–24 and 2024–25: Average absenteeism rose by 7 percentage points (from 30 percent to 37 percent) in Ward 1, and schools in Ward 4 followed with a 3 percentage point increase. Wards 1 and 4 are also those where the highest percentages of English Learners attend school: In Ward 1, the percentage of English Learners is 39 percent and in Ward 4, the percentage of English Learners is 29 percent. In comparison, in the remaining wards, the share of English Learners in schools is 13 percent or less. [2]
Schools in Wards 2 and 3 saw moderate growth in chronic absenteeism of about 2 percentage points and 1 percentage points respectively. Schools in Wards 5, 7, and 8 already had the highest absenteeism rates in D.C. (between 39 percent and 47 percent) and experienced minimal increases of less than 1 percentage point. Schools in Ward 6 were located in the only ward to see an improvement in chronic absenteeism, which dropped slightly (decrease of 1 percentage point) from 28 percent to 27 percent.
This analysis presents midyear attendance data as of February, and are subject to change. Final attendance data for school year 2024-25 are planned for release in November, 2025. For more information, please see OSSE’s 2024-25 School Year Attendance Reporting reports.
[1] Office of the State Superintendent of Education. (2024). 2024–25 school year attendance reporting. Government of the District of Columbia. https://osse.dc.gov/node/1783131
[2] Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education. (n.d.). School enrollment by special populations — English learners. EdScape. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://edscape.dc.gov/page/school-enrollment-special-populations-english-learners