Missouri's main published attendance figure is not a chronic absence rate. It is the proportional attendance rate: the share of students who attended at least 90% of the time1,2.
In 2024-25, 78.5% of Missouri students attended at least 90% of the time, up from 76.6% in 2022-23 and 78.2% in 2023-241,2.
Gaps are wide. In 2024-25, 61.4% of Black students, 69.9% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch and 54.3% of students experiencing homelessness met that mark, compared with 83.3% of white students1.
A Saint Louis University research center, using state data, found that more than one in five K–12 students were chronically absent in 2023-24, and that nearly 91% of districts saw chronic absence rise from 2019 to 20243.
In the newest state results, the number of districts where 20% or more of students were chronically absent fell from 172 to 544.
Nationally, 22.6% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25. Missouri's published state measure is different, so the two are not directly comparable5,1.
Requirements by role
What state rules ask of each role
Counselors
A child may be excused from school, in full or in part, for mental or behavioral health concerns, but only if the school receives documentation from a mental health professional licensed under chapter 334 or 337, acting within their scope of practice, stating the child cannot attend because of those concerns6.
Each school district must designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster care children. In an advisory capacity, the liaison must help ensure proper placement, enrollment in school and checkout from school for foster children9.
Attendance team
State law puts the duty on parents: a parent or guardian of a child between seven and the district's compulsory attendance age must make the child attend school regularly for the entire school term, unless the child is excused under one of the law's exceptions6.
That age is seventeen, or having completed sixteen credits toward high school graduation, except in a metropolitan district whose board sets seventeen by resolution; such a board may later lower it to sixteen. Either resolution takes effect no earlier than the school year after the one in which it is adopted. A parent who enrolls a child aged five to seven in a public school program must also make the child attend regularly6.
A child between five and seven must be excused if the parent or guardian makes a written request that the child be dropped from the school's rolls6.
If a parent gives written notice of intent to pursue other educational options under the compulsory attendance law and asks that the child be dropped from the district's rolls, the school must comply and remove the child promptly8.
State guidance says a parent whose child does not regularly attend may be reported to the Children's Division of the Department of Social Services or to the county prosecutor10.
Principals & districts
A child whom the superintendent of the district where the child lives (or the chief school officer, if there is no superintendent) determines to be mentally or physically incapacitated may be excused from all or part of required attendance6.
A child between fourteen and the compulsory attendance age may be excused, in full or in part, by the superintendent (or, if there is none, a court) when the child has legal employment found desirable, and after the parents or guardian have been advised of the pending action6.
A parent who violates the compulsory attendance law is guilty of a class C misdemeanor. On conviction, even while an appeal is pending, the parent must enroll the child within three public school days; after that, each further school day is a separate violation7.
The court may, at its discretion, suspend and finally remit the penalty if the child is immediately placed and kept in regular attendance and that is later proved to the court's satisfaction7. A certificate that the child is regularly attending a public, private, parochial or parish school, properly attested by the superintendent, principal or person in charge of the school, is prima facie evidence of regular attendance7.
Recent changes
What changed lately
Senate Bill 727 (2024) repealed the section on truant officers, section 167.071, effective August 28, 202411.
The same 2024 bill amended the compulsory attendance law and its penalty section; the current versions took effect August 28, 20246,7.
Senate Bill 727 also amended the definition of a school day; the new version took effect on 01 Jul 2026. A school day is now any day in which, for any amount of time, pupils are under teachers' guidance in the teaching process12.
Senate Bill 63 (2025) amended the rule on dropping a child from the rolls when parents choose other educational options, effective August 28, 20258.
Accountability
How the state holds schools to it
Missouri rates and accredits districts through its own Missouri School Improvement Plan. The state says its ESSA plan is only one part of that system13.
The state report card sets an attendance target: 90% of students in attendance 90% of the time. The report card notes this rate is not shown the same way as proportional attendance in the annual performance report1.
Districts can earn up to four points for attendance on the annual performance report: at least 90% attendance earns all four points, and below 79.9% earns zero2.
In the results reported in December 2023, nearly 17% of Missouri districts received the lowest attendance rating2.
The state's district report card also has a separate chronic absenteeism section. As of December 2025, it said 2024-25 chronic absenteeism data would be available in January 20261.
Working on chronic absence in Missouri?
Agenteach helps counselors, teachers, and attendance teams follow up with students who are missing school, and keeps a record of every step.
