Atlanta School Districts Show Mixed Record On Attendance

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According to a new report from nonprofit organization Attendance Works, about 13 percent of U.S. public school students were considered “chronically absent” during the 2013-14 school year. The analysis was based on data from the U.S. Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights. To be considered “chronically absent,” a student had to miss at least 15 days of school during the year. If a student missed half a day, he was considered absent for a full day.

According to the analysis, Atlanta-area school districts are performing slightly better than the national average. Almost 9 percent of students in Cobb and Gwinnett counties were considered chronically absent. In Clayton County, the rate was 14 percent. In Cobb it was close to 11 percent. There were two outliers in the data: DeKalb County, where only 3.5 percent of students were chronically absent. In the Atlanta Public Schools, the rate ballooned to 35.5 percent.