Ohio’s chronic absenteeism rate fell to 23.9% in the 2025-2026 school year, marking the third straight year of improvement, but the state remains well short of its goal of cutting absenteeism in half.
The figure, released on Ohio Department of Education and Workforce report cards on Sept. 15, is down from 25.1% the previous year and represents an eight percentage point drop from the state’s high of more than 30% in 2021-2022. It is also the lowest rate since before the COVID-19 pandemic, when absenteeism hovered around 17%.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing 10% or more of the minimum required instructional hours or days for any reason. Gov. Mike DeWine announced in 2024 that he wanted to cut the rate in half over five years, from around 25%.
ODEW Director Stephen Dackin said he is cautiously optimistic about the trend. “Obviously I would have liked to cut chronic absenteeism in half, which is what we kind of set the goal at in the beginning,” Dackin said. “But we’re going to persist and work with our partners.”
Educators and policymakers continue to debate whether high absence rates are the new normal. With the rate still well above pre-pandemic levels, state leaders say more work remains to get Ohio students back in classrooms consistently.