NYC student chronic absenteeism not improving in the public schools

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Sep 17, 2026

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NEW YORK — The New York City public schools made no progress last school year to stem alarming rates of chronic absenteeism after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data released Thursday.

More than one-third of students were chronically absent during the 2025-26 school year, per the Mayor’s Management Report, the first issued under Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels. That figure, 33.5%, was about the same — if not a step slightly in the wrong direction — as during the 2024-25 school year, when 33.3% of children were regularly missing school.

Students are considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of school days in a year. Before the pandemic, which shuttered school buildings and upended daily attendance routines, roughly one-quarter of students were absent that frequently.

Chronic absence peaked during the 2021-22 school year at 41%.

Also last school year, average daily attendance marginally declined across the school system, from 89.8% to 89.5%, according to the report. Elementary and middle school attendance dipped slightly from 91.1% to 90.9%, and high school attendance dropped from 87.1% to 86.5%.

The Daily News has reached out to the public schools for comment — and to ask what school officials will do differently this school year to ensure this is not a new normal.

For the first time, this fall schools are now required to designate a liaison — a teacher, administrator or other school staffer — to support students who refuse to attend school due to severe anxiety or depression, a condition known as “school avoidance.”

The designated staffer must participate in annual professional development to recognize school avoidance and appropriately support students. The reforms are part of a settlement to a 2024 federal class-action lawsuit.

But experts remain concerned about the lack of a more comprehensive effort, with the backing of the broader school system.

“(The) belated naming a point person for each school, though an obvious management approach, will fail without targeting schools with greatest need with a centrally supported toolbox of proven strategies,” said David Bloomfield, a professor emeritus of education law and policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center.

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