More than a third of the students in the Clark County (Nevada) School District were chronically absent from school during in 2022-2023, the state Department of Education says.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the 38.3% rate is a slight improvement from the prior school year’s 40.6%, but it’s still much higher than the district’s pre-pandemic chronic absenteeism rate of 21.9%.
Clark County is the nation's fifth-largest district; it has about 300,000 students.
Chronic absenteeism — when a student misses at least 10% of total instruction days — has plagued school districts across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic led to campuses closing and a pivot to remote instruction.
There isn’t a simple answer — or solution — to persistent chronic absenteeism, state and local education officials told lawmakers at a hearing of the legislature's Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education.
Mike Barton, the district's Chief College, Career and Equity Officer, says Clark County has identified five factors contributing to absenteeism, including a sense of belonging, difficulties with physical or mental health, basic needs not being met, child care and academic gaps.
