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About 24% of California’s youngest students were chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year, compared with 19% of students statewide, according to data cited by The 74. The state’s next attendance release, due in October, will cover 2025-26, the first year transitional kindergarten was widely available to families.
About 24% of California’s youngest students were chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year, compared with 19% of all students, according to data reported by The 74. The state is expected to release its 2025-26 attendance figures in October; those results will cover the first school year in which transitional kindergarten, or TK, was widely available to families.
Chronic absenteeism means missing at least 10% of school days in an academic year. In a typical 180-day school year, that amounts to about 18 days, or three and a half weeks. California’s overall rate has declined from a peak of 30% in 2021-22, when schools were reopening after pandemic-related closures, but the rate among TK and kindergarten students has remained higher than the statewide figure.
School administrators say illness is a common reason young children miss class, particularly when they are first spending time in a classroom with many other children. Families may also have trouble judging when a child with mild symptoms should stay home, or may not realize how much instruction takes place in early grades. These explanations come from educators and school officials interviewed by The 74; the reported figures do not identify the causes of each absence.
At Roseville City School District near Sacramento, staff have used letters, calls and online materials to explain how early-grade lessons build skills in reading, math, writing and science. The district’s overall chronic absenteeism rate fell from nearly 26% in 2021-22 to 10.5% in 2024-25, according to state data cited in the report. The district then focused attendance communications on TK and kindergarten families and is now tailoring messages to individual students’ absence records.
Missed Early Lessons Can Accumulate
The attendance gap matters because TK and kindergarten introduce foundational skills and routines that students rely on as they advance through school. Researchers cited in The 74 report that chronic absenteeism in those grades is associated with lower academic achievement later. The report also describes research finding that children chronically absent in TK and kindergarten are about twice as likely to transfer to another school district. Those findings describe associations; they do not establish that absences alone cause later academic or enrollment outcomes.
For families, the practical concern is that missed days can add up before a pattern is obvious. An occasional absence may seem minor, but the state’s chronic-absence measure counts missed days across the full school year. Districts are responding with reminders and direct outreach, while trying to distinguish routine attendance concerns from illness that warrants staying home. The October figures should help educators see whether attendance among the youngest students changed during a year when TK access expanded.
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Attendance After Pandemic Closures
California’s statewide chronic absenteeism rate reached 30% in 2021-22, as schools reopened after pandemic-related closures. Nearly 2 million TK-12 students were chronically absent that year, according to The 74 report. Districts then pursued multiyear efforts to encourage students to return to class, including family outreach and information about the effects of repeated absences.
Roseville City’s approach included explaining that families could keep children home when they were sick while also giving guidance on absences for mild symptoms. The district later described the skills taught in each early grade to make the progression from TK activities to later reading and writing more visible. Its overall attendance improvement did not eliminate the challenge among its youngest pupils: the report says their chronic absence rate peaked in 2022-23 at 11 percentage points above the rest of the district.
TK is California’s transitional kindergarten program for young children before kindergarten. The forthcoming 2025-26 figures are of particular interest because TK was widely available to all families for the first time that school year, according to the report. The new data will offer a statewide view of attendance during that expanded-access year, though the figures alone may not explain why students missed school.
“If they are missing school, they are missing out on the building blocks, and it will impact them for the rest of their lives.”
— Jessica Hull, executive director of communication and community engagement at Roseville City School District
Causes and New Rates Remain Unknown
The reported 24% rate combines the youngest students identified in the source report; it does not provide separate figures here for TK and kindergarten, nor a breakdown by district, student group or reason for absence. The available information also does not establish how much of the attendance gap reflects illness, family circumstances, adjustment to school or other factors.
The 2025-26 statewide rate has not yet been released in the source material. It is not yet clear whether expanded TK access was accompanied by a change in chronic absenteeism among the youngest students, or whether any change would be linked to TK availability. The report says state data are expected in October but does not specify the release date.
October Data Will Update the Picture
California is expected to publish chronic absenteeism data for the 2025-26 school year in October. Education experts and school administrators will be watching the youngest students’ attendance rates, particularly because TK was widely available to families during that year. The release should show whether the 2024-25 gap between the youngest students and the statewide rate persisted, narrowed or widened.
Roseville City is continuing individualized communication with families. Hull said a message may explain that a student has missed five days in the first two months and is on course to meet the chronic-absence threshold, then ask what support may help. The district’s outreach is one local response; the statewide figures will show whether similar attendance concerns remain widespread.
Key Questions
What does chronic absenteeism mean?
Chronic absenteeism means missing 10% or more of school days in one school year. In a 180-day year, that is about 18 days.
How did the youngest students’ rate compare with California overall?
About 24% of California’s youngest students were chronically absent in 2024-25, compared with 19% of all students, according to data reported by The 74.
Why do young children miss school?
Educators interviewed by The 74 cited frequent illness among children beginning school, adjustment to new routines and families’ uncertainty about whether to keep a child home. The reported data do not assign a cause to individual absences.
When will California release the next attendance figures?
The state is expected to release chronic absenteeism data for 2025-26 in October. The source report does not give a specific release date.
Did Roseville City reduce chronic absenteeism?
Yes. State data cited by The 74 show the district’s overall rate fell from nearly 26% in 2021-22 to 10.5% in 2024-25. Those figures are for the district overall; the report says attendance among TK and kindergarten students remained a concern.
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