Providence Public School District announces significant drop in absenteeism rate

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Providence Public School District announced Wednesday that the chronic absenteeism rate dropped 12.1% from last year.

The chronic absenteeism rate for the 2023-24 school year was 36.2%, down from 48.4% the previous year.

Officials said the rate is also down 20.9% from the school district’s highest rate of 57.1% during the 2021-22 year.

This also represents a milestone, as it is the first time the rate has fallen below the pre-pandemic level of 37.3% in 2018-19.

This comes after officials launched the Attendance Hero campaign last year in alliance with Attendance Matters RI to raise consistent attendance.