Michigan absenteeism FAQ: Who’s to blame? What are penalties to schools, kids?

What to know about absenteeism: how it’s defined, how it’s different than truancy and the role of parents
Among the issues: Local control laws largely allow individual districts to make their own rules
Experts agree: You have to be in class to learn, and Michigan reading scores are low

Educators agree: chronic absenteeism is a huge problem in Michigan schools, impacting learning and dragging down test scores of even students who show up to class.

Just six states had lower fourth-grade reading scores on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress. That same year, Michigan had the worst rate of kids habitually missing school in the Midwest — and one of the highest rates in the nation.

While rates have dropped three consecutive years, the problem remains acute: 28% of Michigan students last year missed 10% or more of their school year, at least 18 days.

“Michigan needs to be clear that this is a problem for us and an opportunity to solve,” said Venessa Keesler, president and CEO of Launch Michigan, a bi-partisan school reform group.

Here’s what to know.

How bad is absenteeism?

Bad.

Last year, more than a quarter of Michigan students, nearly 388,000, were considered “chronically absent,” which includes excused and unexcused absences — everything from sickness and appointments to skipping school without parents’ knowledge.

Before the pandemic, there were 290,000 chronically absent students, or 19.7% of public school students.

Whose fault is this?

Educators say it’s complicated and blame poverty, a lack of transportation, a culture change and family priorities.

Ultimately, though, it’s the fault of parents, not the student — at least for younger children.

Midland’s Central Park Elementary School Principal Chelsea Sauve was one of many educators who told Bridge that attitudes changed during the pandemic.

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“Allowing kids to quarantine and be home for ten days — that’s what the protocol used to be and so it’s kind of set this precedent that being gone for that long is OK.”

When Everett High School staff visit students’ homes, they aim to find out why a student isn’t coming to school and share attendance data. District students are eligible for free city transportation cards and gas cards.

“In Lansing, we give you so many opportunities to get to school,” said Billy Hastings, community engagement specialist and assistant football coach.

Michigan school administrators send letters home to parents urging them to send their child to school and to reach out to school leaders if there are ways the school can help. (Courtesy)

Is absenteeism the same as truancy?

No. Chronic absenteeism includes excused and unexcused absences.

Michigan does not have a standard definition for truancy, said Midland Probate and Family Court Judge Angela Cole.

Michigan courts can prosecute parents of students or students for bad attendance, though many argue this is not an effective way to compel a student to improve their attendance. School leaders report students rarely face punishment from the courts. Lawmakers in 2020 removed the minimum number of days a parent could be held in jail too.

After the passing of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act in December in 2015, many states added student attendance as a factor in their accountability metrics, said Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a research and policy group focused on chronic absenteeism.

Teacher and students in a classroom. — Students sit in a circle around their first grade teacher during the class’s morning meeting at Central Park Elementary School in Midland. Midland Public Schools’ chronic absenteeism has tripled over since before the pandemic. (Isabel Lohman/Bridge Michigan)

When does missing school start to affect student scores?

Michigan does not have a statewide analysis examining how absences affect learning.

Indiana has done that work, and found that test scores start to fall after a child’s attendance drops below 94% for a school year. In a 180-day school year, that would be about 10 days.

“Every day you miss matters,” said Sarah Lenhoff, an education associate professor at Wayne State University and co-author of a recent book on school attendance issues, “Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism.”

How many days are school districts required to hold school?

It’s complicated.

The easy answer is schools must offer 1,098 hours and 180 days of pupil instruction in a calendar year. It gets murky, however, because students don’t necessarily have to be in seats for days to count toward that requirement.

Districts get credit for “professional development” days where teachers are trained on new skills. In recent years, districts were allowed to count virtual instruction toward pupil instruction too.

Michigan used to require schools to submit reports to the state about annual instruction hours. Now, the calendars only go to local intermediate school districts.

Michael Rice, who recently retired as state superintendent, repeatedly called on the Legislature to change the law so that professional development and virtual days can’t be counted as instruction hours. The state’s most recent budget blocks virtual days from counting.

Who sets student attendance policies?

Michigan law requires students ages 6 to 18 to attend public school, with exceptions for students attending private school or homeschooling.

But it’s up to local districts to set policies on what constitutes an unexcused or excused absence.

They also set protocols for when to reach out to a parent or when to involve other people like the local court for truancy proceedings.

What is Michigan doing to address chronic absenteeism?

Many principals and superintendents call or send letters home to parents when students repeatedly miss school.

Schools use attendance teams to assess student attendance trends and problem solve ways to help students regularly attend school.

On the state level, school districts can participate in the Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System (EWIMS). It’s a process used to analyze data and provide support to students at risk of dropping out of school. The state offers coaching to local school districts who want to participate.

The state has also dedicated $5 million for a five-year project for schools to use a new data system to better track attendance, student behavior and course completions. Roughly 60 districts are piloting the program this year with the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (MAISA).

Michigan has provided funds for dropout recovery, said Michigan Department of Education spokesperson Bob Wheaton. Wheaton said Partnership districts – low-performing districts – had to create academic goals for increasing graduation rates, reducing class sizes and improving attendance in order to receive Partnership funding in 2024.

Have lawmakers done anything about the issue?

Not much. Unlike peers in other states, the state has not passed any major reforms on student attendance post-pandemic.

Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, told Bridge she wants to make chronic absenteeism a policy priority but is not yet sure what legislation would look like.

Roughly a third of Michigan school leaders said chronic absenteeism was one of their top three priorities for the 2024-2025 school year, according to a survey from researchers at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan-Flint.

How are other states’ chronic absenteeism numbers?

States generally define chronic absenteeism as a student missing 10% or more of the school year but states can differ in how they count attendance.

Many states have not released their most recent absenteeism scores but here’s what we know about Midwest states:

Iowa: 15.81% during the 2024-2025 school year (Source: Iowa Department of Education)

Indiana: 16.7% during the 2024-2025 school year (Source: Indiana Department of Education)

Ohio: 25.1% during the 2024-2025 school year (Source: Ohio Department of Education & Workforce)

Attendance Works has a tracker about each state’s absenteeism policies.

Also the Return to Learn Tracker compares states’ absenteeism rates.

Are there penalties for schools with low attendance?

Yes.

Last year, 162 school districts — 59 traditional and 103 charters — faced potential financial penalties for school days when fewer than 75% of students showed up.

Join us

Join a livestream with Oakland University and Bridge Michigan as Bridge reporters present exclusive findings on the state of education in Michigan, followed by expert panel analysis coordinated by Oakland University. This two-part event examines K-12 schools, education policy, and the future of public education. Presented by Detroit PBS.

Date: Nov. 18, 2025
Time: 9:15 am.

That occurred 873 different days last school year in those 162 districts. That’s down from the past two years, but more than double the 406 days it occurred in 2018-19, the last full year unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In five districts, all charter schools, the 75% threshold wasn’t met at least 22 days, according to data provided to Bridge Michigan by the Michigan Department of Education.

One district, Global Heights Academy of Dearborn Heights, had it happen 37 different days, including once when fewer than half of the school’s 244 students attended.

The state does not know when those days occurred until Aug. 1, nearly two months after the school year.

Those days cost districts $11.5 million in funding for 2024-25, according to Ken Coleman, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Education.