Bartow County schools cut chronic absenteeism rate nearly in half

More than 1,300 Bartow County students who were regularly missing school last year showed up this year, according to the Bartow County School System — a notable bright spot amid a statewide crisis that Georgia lawmakers have been working to address.

What happened: The share of Bartow County students considered chronically absent — meaning they missed about a month or more of school — fell from 25% last year to below 16% this year, the school system said.

By the numbers: The drop of more than 9 percentage points represents more than 1,300 individual students who moved out of the chronically absent category.

The statewide picture: Bartow County’s improvement comes as Georgia grapples with a broader absenteeism problem that has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. More than one in five Georgia public school students — roughly 26% — were considered chronically absent last school year, nearly double the rate recorded in 2019. A legislative study committee examining the issue found that the share of students missing six to 15 days of school also climbed to 42%, six points higher than before the pandemic.

What it means: Chronic absenteeism is widely tracked because students who miss that much school are more likely to fall behind academically and, in severe cases, drop out entirely. Experts have linked dropping out to significantly worse health outcomes and an average life expectancy eight years shorter than that of high school graduates.

The path forward: The Bartow County School System has not said what specific steps it plans to take to keep absenteeism rates low, but the drop from 25% to below 16% in a single year will likely draw attention from state education officials who track absenteeism as a key measure of school health across Georgia.