Although there has been improvement in attendance over the years, nearly 1 in 4 students in Ohio missed 10% or more of school days during the 2025-26 school year, a concern for children’s learning and development. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce reported that the state’s chronic absenteeism rate dropped to 23.7%, from 24.9% in 2024–25 and 30.2% in 2021–22. The rate is still much higher, however, than the 16.7% in the 2018–19 school year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
