Half Of Keiki Are Chronically Absent At Some Schools. See How Yours Compares
At some Hawaiʻi public schools, more than 50% of students regularly skip school, state data shows.
Five years after school attendance dipped during the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly a quarter of Hawaiʻi students remain chronically absent from class.
New state data for the 2025-26 academic year shows that roughly 23% of students were chronically absent last year, meaning they missed 18 or more days of school.
But the stats vary widely across the state. In the Big Island’s schools from Kaʻū to Keaʻau, about 40% of students regularly missed class. On the Westside of Oʻahu, more than half of students in the Nānākuli complex were chronically absent.
Schools in the Kalani, Moanalua and Radford complexes had the lowest chronic absenteeism rates last year, with only 11% of students missing 18 or more days of school.
On Kauaʻi, roughly a quarter of students were chronically absent last year, a slight improvement from 28% the year prior. In Maui’s six school complexes, chronic absenteeism ranged from 13% to 33%
Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi reported chronic absenteeism rates of just under 30%.
Statewide, the numbers have improved since 2021, when more than a third of Hawaiʻi students weren’t attending class regularly. But attendance has yet to recover to its pre-pandemic rate, when only 14% of students were chronically absent.
Educators say attendance hasn’t fully recovered since the pandemic for a number of reasons. Parents are more hesitant to send sick kids to school after strict health policies during Covid-19, and some schools have seen an increase in students struggling with mental health or developing a strong sense of belonging on campus.
While the state saw little change in its attendance rate last year, there’s wide variation in which groups of students attend class most regularly.
Chronic absenteeism rates tend to be particularly high among kindergarteners before improving throughout elementary school. The rates increase again through middle and early high school.
Last year, 27% of 9th and 11th graders were chronically absent. The absenteeism rate dropped to 20% among Hawaiʻi seniors.
Poor attendance is also prevalent among homeless and migrant students, as well as English learners, who may face additional challenges with regularly coming to class. The education department defines migrant students as those who need to move between school complexes as their families seek temporary work in industries like agriculture or ranching.
Roughly 43% of homeless students were chronically absent last year – nearly double the statewide rate. Nearly 33% of English learners and 35% of migrant students were chronically absent.
See the chronic absenteeism rate for your school last year:
