New data suggests that Arlington Public Schools is making progress on lowering the rate of students being chronically absent from class.
Through Jan. 30, 10% of APS students this school year were absent from class more than 10% of the time, according to data reported at the Feb. 19 School Board meeting. That’s down from rates of 12.4% for the 2024-25 school year and 13.2% from 2023-24.
“We are seeing sustained reductions — [a rate] much lower than it had been in previous years,” Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members.
Chronic student absenteeism spiked in Arlington and across the commonwealth during the Covid era, when classes moved to an online format. At both the state and local levels, efforts have been made to bring the rates down — and some results are starting to show.
“It’s trending in the right direction,” Durán said.
Much of the absenteeism comes among English-language learners, some of them older than traditional school age, who frequently have to balance family and work obligations with schooling.
At Arlington Community High School, where many of those students take classes, the chronic-absentee rate for the first half of the school year was 64.7%.
While eye-popping, that figure is down from 71.7% in 2024-25 and 79% in 2025-26. And since instruction takes place on an individualized basis, Arlington Community High School students can attend classes at their own pace, receiving credit once they have mastered subject material.
Among Arlington’s general high schools, rates of chronic absenteeism for the current year stand at 15.6% at Washington-Liberty, 18.2% at Wakefield and 11.2% at Yorktown.
The rate at the Arlington Career Center is 11.4%, while at H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program it is 8.5%, according to APS data.
Among all students in all grade levels, there are disparities among some racial and ethnic groups:
- White students account for 41% of the overall student population and 23% of those reported as chronic absentees
- Among Hispanic/Latino students, the rates for 30% in the overall student body and 47% of those chronically absent
- For Black students, the rates are 11% and 14%, respectively
- Among Asian students, the rates are 9% and 9%
- For students classified as “Other,” the rates are 8% and 6%
The rates by race and ethnicity were little changed from a year before.
Students with disabilities account for 15% of the student body across APS but 25% of those recorded as chronic absentees.
Figures are broken down as part of the most recent quarterly update looking at how the school system is meeting goals enshrined in its Strategic Plan.
Statewide, chronic absenteeism decreased from 20% in the 2022-23 school year to 14.8% in 2024-25, according to the Virginia Department of Education.
The 26% reduction over two years statewide resulted in nearly 2.1 additional days students were in class across the commonwealth.
