This story by Melanie Asmar, excerpted here, originally appeared on Chalkbeat Colorado on August 27, 2025. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters
Colorado education officials relayed some bad news Wednesday: The percentage of students who were chronically absent last school year increased, while attendance stayed nearly flat.
A student is chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of their school days. The more school students miss, the more likely they are to fall behind in their academics.
More than 1 in 4 Colorado students, or 28.4%, were chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year, according to data released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Education. That’s up from 27.7% in 2023-24. Chronic absenteeism rates had been falling since a pandemic-era high of 34.5%, but last year’s rate reverses that trend.
“While we did see some promising gains at the local level, our overall statewide results for average daily attendance and chronic absenteeism, unfortunately, are moving in the wrong direction of what we had hoped to see,” state Education Commissioner Susana Córdova said.
The statewide attendance rate last school year was 91.4%, a slight dip from 91.5% in 2023-24.
Even though the statewide rates are trending in the wrong direction, most individual school districts saw improvements. The chronic absenteeism rates in 105 of Colorado’s 178 districts went down in 2024-25, meaning fewer students missed a lot of school.
But in the state’s two largest districts, Denver Public Schools and Jeffco Public Schools, chronic absenteeism rates went up. Jeffco’s rate increased from 25.3% in 2023-24 to 26.6% in 2024-25. Denver’s rate went from 37.1% to 38.1%.
In a statement, DPS said it was a challenging year for attendance.
“Between the necessary school closing process that we faced last fall and the Presidential Executive Orders and ICE activity in our community in the spring, students and families have understandably felt frustrated and even vulnerable at school,” the statement said.
The Denver school board voted in November to close seven schools with low enrollment and partially close three more, a contentious decision that was unpopular with many families and teachers. Those schools shuttered in June.
In February, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided apartment buildings in Denver and Aurora, causing fear among families and prompting protests from students.
DPS pointed out that despite the overall trend, 82 of Denver’s nearly 200 schools reported improvements in attendance and reductions in chronic absenteeism.
Colorado is one of several states that signed on to a nationwide challenge last year to cut chronic absenteeism by half over a five-year period. The Colorado Department of Education’s goals calls for the chronic absenteeism rate to hit a low of 15% by the 2027-28 school year.