NYC chronic absenteeism stuck at 1 in 3 students as schools get new attendance rules
One in three city public school students missed a tenth or more of their school days in 2025-26, no better than the year before. Every school now needs a school avoidance liaison.
One in three New York City public school students was chronically absent in 2025-26, meaning they missed a tenth or more of their school days. The figure comes from the Mayor’s Management Report, the city’s yearly compilation of agency performance data, released Thursday.
That rate is no better than in 2024-25 and remains well above pre-pandemic levels, when roughly 1 in 4 children fell into that group. The rate peaked at 40%, the highest in decades, in 2021-22, when students returned to classrooms full time during the COVID pandemic. Homeless students face the steepest barriers. Students with disabilities also struggle to attend, often because of busing problems.
New NYC school attendance rules
The Education Department rewrote its attendance policies in June and asked each school to come up with ways to step in. The regulations list options such as Success Mentors, extracurricular activities, mental health support, referrals to support services and a walking school bus.
This year every school must also add a school avoidance liaison. That staff member focuses on students who stay out for long stretches while dealing with social or emotional disabilities, including serious anxiety and depression. Schools are also told to sit down with chronically absent students and their families to draft attendance success plans, which spell out what keeps a child home and set goals to change it.
Why missing school matters, pediatricians say
Dr. Kenya Parks, a Mount Sinai pediatrician who serves as medical director of its school-based program for children, said socioeconomic factors make the problem complex. Children who miss school early on “have a pretty poor prognosis throughout life, jobwise, health-wise, even quality of life,” she said.
Parks said she would like to see schools and the medical system work together. She noted that both fields know children do better in places where they feel supported and welcome. The Education Department gave no answer when asked about the new figures.
Quick answers
What counts as chronic absenteeism in NYC schools?
Missing a tenth or more of the school year.
What is a school avoidance liaison?
A staff role every school must add this year to help students who stay out for long stretches while dealing with social or emotional disabilities, including serious anxiety and depression.
Which students miss school most often?
Homeless students face the highest hurdles, and students with disabilities also struggle, often because of busing problems.
