Jun 9, 2025
State Sen. James Skoufis, D-Cornwall, speaks during a news conference in late May in Albany.
A state legislator wants schools to do more to reduce the number of students who are chronically absent from school.
Sen. James Skoufis, C-Cornwall, has introduced legislation (S.8132) that would create a several new reporting requirements and actions for schools that have too many students missing too much school.
“Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days in an academic year and is a growing crisis with long-term consequences for student success and educational equity. According to Attendance Works, a leading nonprofit dedicated to improving school attendance, at least 14.7 million students were chronically absent nationwide during the 2020-21 school year. While absenteeism was already a concern prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the disruptions of remote learning, public health concerns, and social instability have nearly doubled the number of students affected,” Skoufis wrote in his legislative justification. “The academic and social costs of chronic absenteeism are well-documented. Students who are chronically absent in early grades are more likely
to struggle with foundational reading skills, setting them back academically for years.”
Skoufis’ solution is to create a real-time attendance reporting system and a set of codes concerning the types of student absences, including excused and unexcused. Every public school district, BOCES, charter school, vocational education and extension board and non-public schools would have to use the same system and codes. Once a month, schools would ahve to post anonymous attendance reporting data grouped by school, grade, race or ethnicity, gender, English language learner status, economic status, disability status and any other category the state Education Department says is necessary.
Data would then be submitted to the state Education Department once a month. The state Education Department would then use that data to compile a report on each school and school district including data for each student in each school in each district.
Every district in the state with a chronic absenteeism rate of 10% or higher will have to establish an attendance review team, while a school with a chronic absenteeism rate of 15% or higher would have to create an attendance review team. Attendance review teams would have to include school administrators, attendance supervisors, guidance counselors, school social workers, teachers and representatives from community programs that deal with school attendance and school delinquents, as well as chronically absent students and their parents or person in parental relation. Teams would review truancy cases and issues with chronically absent students, discuss school interventions or community referrals and make recommendations for truants and chronically absent students and their parents.
Skoufis proposes using tiered strategies to help chronically absent students that would be adopted by all schools. Tier one strategies would be whole-school prevention strategies that show the importance of school attendance (something already done in most schools), develop ways to identify students who could become chronically absent, monitoring attendance and adjusting interventions as they are implemented.
The second tier of intervention would be targeted to students who have been absent for at least 10% of school days but less than 19% of school days, including excused and unexcused absences, including home visits to learn from families, not enforce attendance policies or sanctions. Families would receive multiple home visits, with strategies to include mentorship to reduce absenteeism, incentives and rewards that recognize schools that reduce absenteeism, meetings with parents or guardians of students who are truant or chronically absent and school personnel to review and evaluate why a student is chronically absent or truant, with the meeting held no later than 10 days after a child has a fourth unexcused absence in a month or 10th unexcused absence in a school year. The second tier would also include coordinating services with community agencies and notifications at the start of the school year of parents’ obligations to make sure their child attends school.
The second tier also requires monitoring individual unexcused absences for students in kindergarten through eighth grades that includes schools reaching out to students’ parents when there is an unexcused absence. A school mental health specialist would be required to evaluate children who are chronically absent to determine if further interventions are needed for the well-being of the child.
The third tier of intervention strategies would be for students who are absent 20% of school days for any reason. Schools would use home visits as part of tier two interventions while also using any other strategies the state Education Department requires to reduce the student’s school absences.
The state Education Department would develop an early warning system to identify students who need support to improve academic performance, attendance or engagement in school that includes tracking absences, in-school or out-of-school suspensions, students who are failing any class during a grading period or displays any other troubling indicators the state Education Department deems relevant.
Skoufis also proposes changes to what happens when a student withdraws from school. A parent has to sign an education withdrawal and enrollment form that includes the parent’s understanding that children will be enrolled in an adult education program when they withdraw from school.
“Other states have successfully used legislation to tackle chronic absenteeism, providing a roadmap for New York to follow. In particular, Connecticut’s comprehensive statewide strategy-codified through legislation-has been recognized as a national model. Their approach combines data transparency and frequent reporting, early intervention systems, and school-community partnerships to address the root causes of absenteeism,” Skoufis wrote. “This legislation will equip schools, districts, and SED with the, tools and frameworks they need to proactively identify and support students who are at risk of falling through the cracks due to chronic absence. A coordinated state response, grounded in best practices and responsive to local needs, is critical to ensuring all students have the opportunity to thrive.”
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