September 14, 2026
State Strategies
By Lori Masseur, Read On Arizona
September is the last month of Major League Baseball’s 162-game regular season, and our Arizona Diamondbacks are still in the playoff hunt. Every game counts in the final standings.
For Arizona’s students and teachers, September means their season, the new school year, is well underway. And when it comes to learning, every school day counts, too. But too many of our students are missing too many days of school and instruction.
Sept. 29 is Chronic Absence Awareness Day in Arizona in recognition of the urgent challenge facing our students, our schools and our state, and a reminder that we can solve this problem together.
Where We Stand
A student is considered “chronically absent” when they miss 10% or more of the school year — about 18 days — for any reason, excused or unexcused. That equates to just two absences a month over the whole year, which may not sound like too much, but each missed day adds up. Losing out on such a significant amount of instructional time makes it harder for students to master foundational skills, stay engaged in learning and avoid falling behind.
Arizona has made solid progress in reducing our overall rate of chronic absence, but there’s still a way to go. Last year, 24% of Arizona’s public and charter school students in grades 1 through 8 were chronically absent; that’s down from a high of 32% in 2022, but still about double the state's pre-pandemic rate. The numbers are even higher among high school students.
Arizona’s challenge is not unique. Every state saw a spike in chronic absence, and none have fully returned to pre-pandemic levels.
A Team Effort
Read On Arizona convened the state's first Chronic Absence Task Force in 2023, bringing together representatives from the Governor's Office, school districts, state agencies, community organizations, philanthropic partners, legislative staff and national attendance experts.The Task Force subsequently released recommendations to decrease chronic absence in Arizona focused on three priorities: building awareness and urgency, collecting actionable data, and implementing evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies. We also developed the Arizona Chronic Absence Resource Guide, a framework of practical, proven strategies to get students back to school and back on track.
Schools, districts, and communities across Arizona are putting these strategies to work.
Buckeye Elementary School District has developed a real-time, actionable data system to identify students at risk for chronic absence. Staff then use evidence-based interventions to address the root causes of absences and engage with families to promote attendance. The district’s chronic absence rate has dropped from 37% in 2022 to 22% in 2025.
Similarly, Washington Elementary School District in Phoenix, the largest elementary school district in Arizona with more than 18,000 pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students, has used the Resource Guide as a playbook to reduce its chronic absence rate from 43% in 2022 to 22% in 2025. The district is also one of nine in Maricopa County that are part of Project SAAM, an initiative of Valley of the Sun United Way that provides technical assistance to inform school strategies and strengthen family engagement to improve attendance.
Both districts also participate in Read On Arizona’s Actionable Data Work Group, part of the ongoing efforts of the Task Force to reach its goal of reducing Ariona’s overall rate of chronic absence to pre-pandemic levels by 2030. That goal has been adopted by the Arizona State Board of Education and is a key component of Arizona Literacy Plan 2030, which outlines the strategies and actions needed for more of Arizona’s students to learn to read proficiently and be successful in school.
We will reach that goal when even more school and community leaders adopt evidence-based approaches to reduce chronic absence, and when more parents and caregivers recognize that every day their child attends school is a win, from pre-K to graduation.
