States / North Carolina

Chronic absence in North Carolina

Where things stand, what state rules ask of each role, and what is changing. For school and district leaders.

School year 2024-25

24%

of students were chronically absent³

Chronically absent means missing 10% or more of enrolled school days.⁴

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)²

Five-year trend

North Carolina, year by year

North Carolina chronic absence by school year
School year	Chronically absent
2018-19	16%
2020-21	27%
2021-22	32%
2022-23	27%
2023-24	26%
2024-25	24%

Dashed bars mark years the state did not publish a rate.

Where things stand

The numbers

In 2024-25, 24% of North Carolina students were chronically absent, nearly 400,000 students or about 1 in 4, according to the state education department^3,5.
AEI's national compilation of state-reported data is a different series: it shows 25% for 2024-25, down from a peak of 32% in 2021-22¹.
Rates are still well above pre-pandemic levels; in AEI's compilation the 2018-19 rate was 16%, and the state education department puts its own pandemic peak at 31%^1,3.
Chronically absent students miss about 30 days of school on average⁵.
The state says the impact has been especially severe in high-poverty, rural, and urban districts³.
North Carolina is above the national rate, which was 22.6% in 2024-25^2,1.

Requirements by role

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

Teachers must cooperate with the principal in finding out why students are not attending, so the principal can report violators of the compulsory attendance law to the school social worker under State Board rules⁸.
Teachers and principals are required to report unlawful absences to the school social worker; in a prosecution, those reports are prima facie evidence of the violation¹⁰.
A teacher who knowingly and willfully makes a false report or record of students' daily attendance is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, and the teacher's certificate to teach in North Carolina public schools shall be revoked⁸.

Counselors

Once the parents have been notified of absences, the school attendance counselor must work with the child and family to analyze the causes and decide on steps to fix the problem, including changing the student's school program or getting supplemental services⁷.
The attendance counselor may ask a law enforcement officer to come along if the counselor believes a home visit is necessary⁷.
Local boards of education may employ school social workers on the superintendent's recommendation; school social workers must investigate all violators of the compulsory attendance law and have authority to swear to the criminal warrants needed for prosecution¹⁰.
The State Superintendent's reporting rules must include written notice to the person responsible for a child's nonattendance that the case will be reported to the school social worker unless the law is complied with immediately¹⁰.

Attendance team

Parents must tell the school the reason for each known absence, following local school board policy⁷.
After a student has three unexcused absences in a school year, the principal or the principal's designee must notify the parent of the excessive absences⁷.
After not more than six unexcused absences, the principal or designee must notify the parent by mail that the parent may be violating the compulsory attendance law and may be prosecuted if the absences cannot be justified under state and local attendance policies⁷.
The principal, the superintendent, or a designee of either has the right to excuse a child temporarily for sickness or another unavoidable cause that the State Board of Education does not define as unlawful absence⁷.
The State Board of Education must make the rules for enforcing attendance, including what counts as unlawful absence, what causes can excuse temporary nonattendance (a student's physical or mental inability to attend, or a valid educational opportunity such as serving as a legislative or Governor's page), and when teachers, principals or superintendents may excuse students for seasonal demands of the farm or the home¹².

Principals & districts

After 10 unexcused absences in a school year, the principal or designee must review any social worker report or investigation and confer with the student and parent, if possible, to determine whether the parent received notice and made a good faith effort to comply with the law⁷.
If the principal or designee finds the parent has not made a good faith effort, the principal must notify the district attorney and the county director of social services, who then decides whether to investigate; if the parent has made a good faith effort, the principal may file a complaint with the juvenile court counselor that the child is habitually absent from school without a valid excuse⁷.
Records showing the parent was notified and the child has 10 absences that cannot be justified under the local board's attendance policies are prima facie evidence that the parent is responsible for the absences⁷.
State law requires the State Board's rules to make principals authorize at least two excused absences each academic year for religious observance, two for military leave (when a parent on active duty has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or has just returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting, and the student is not identified as at risk of academic failure because of unexcused absences), and two for equestrian and agricultural events; the rules may require advance written notice from the parent, and students must be given the chance to make up tests and work missed for religious observance or military leave¹².
A parent or other person who violates the compulsory attendance law is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor; a school official who fails to carry out the State Board's attendance instructions is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor, and a principal who knowingly and willfully makes a false daily attendance report is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, and the principal's certificate shall be revoked^11,12,9.

Recent changes

What changed lately

June 22, 2026: Session Law 2026-11 (Senate Bill 401), Section 9, added equestrian and agricultural events to the excused absences the State Board's rules must require principals to authorize, at least two each academic year; the act took effect when it became law^13,12.
2026: the state education department runs AttendNC Counts, a statewide attendance initiative; its plan covers 2026 to 2028 and includes identifying bright-spot schools, a statewide attendance campaign, and a pilot of early-warning attendance reports in the student information system, with the pilot launch planned for Oct–Dec 2026^6,3.

Accountability

How the state holds schools to it

Chronic absence is not part of North Carolina's A-F school performance grades: by law the grade is 80% school achievement and 20% growth, and it reflects test results, readiness measures, graduation rates and English learner progress^14,15.
Chronic absence is reported publicly: families can see chronic absenteeism data for their school, county or district in a report card format¹⁷.
In May 2023, an advisory group reviewing the A-F grades proposed chronic absenteeism as one of eight indicators for further study in a redesigned accountability system¹⁶.
The state education department's stated aim is to reduce chronic absenteeism 50% by 2030⁵.

What’s working

Efforts with results

About 300 of North Carolina's more than 2,500 public schools have recently made strong attendance improvement, according to the state education department, which names them AttendNC Bright Spots⁶.
Northwest Elementary in Pitt County cut its rate from 36.3% in 2021-22 to 18.6% in 2024-25, a drop of nearly 49%; teachers follow up when a student is out for three or more days, and the school taps local community resources when families face barriers such as transportation, housing, clothing or food⁶.
Hertford County Middle School went from 65% to 41% chronically absent between 2021-22 and 2024-25 using daily check-ins and recognition for improvement; Washington County High went from 75% to 45% with a schedule redesign and engagement work⁵.
Bearfield Primary in Hertford County went from 53% to 27% over the same years with daily check-ins and weekly team meetings⁵.

Working on chronic absence in North Carolina?

Agenteach helps counselors, teachers, and attendance teams follow up with students who are missing school, and keeps a record of every step.

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Sources

American Enterprise Institute (Nat Malkus). From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition? Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2025, Table A3. State-Reported Chronic Absenteeism Data, by State, School Years 2017-25 (columns 2017 to 2025 by spring year; the last value is 2025 = the 2024-25 school year; rates rounded to whole percent) (opens in a new tab) (2026-06-30)
American Enterprise Institute (Nat Malkus). From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition? Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2025 (opens in a new tab) (2026-06-30)
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. AttendNC Counts Project Plan (opens in a new tab) (undated (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. District & State AttendNC Guide (opens in a new tab) (undated (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Office of Research & Promising Practices (presentation to the State Board of Education; file hosted by EdNC). Attendance Bright Spots: Learning from schools reducing chronic absenteeism, State Board of Education, September 2026 (opens in a new tab) (2026-09)
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Following significant improvement toward chronic absenteeism, Northwest Elementary School was identified as an attendance bright spot (October 1, 2026) (opens in a new tab) (2026-10-01)
North Carolina General Assembly. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-378. Children required to attend (opens in a new tab) (current text (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina General Assembly. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-307. Duties of teachers (opens in a new tab) (current text (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina General Assembly. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-288. Powers and duties of principal (opens in a new tab) (current text (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina General Assembly. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-381. School social workers; reports; prosecutions (opens in a new tab) (current text (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina General Assembly. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-380. Penalty for violation (opens in a new tab) (current text (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina General Assembly. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-379. Method of enforcement (opens in a new tab) (current text (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina General Assembly. Session Law 2026-11 (Senate Bill 401), An act to make various changes to the agricultural laws of this state (opens in a new tab) (2026-06-22)
North Carolina General Assembly. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-83.15. School achievement, growth, performance scores, and grades (opens in a new tab) (current text (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina General Assembly. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-12. Powers and duties of the State Board of Education generally (opens in a new tab) (current text (accessed 2026-10-13))
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Report Proposes Changes to School Accountability System (press release, May 30, 2023) (opens in a new tab) (2023-05-30)
Spectrum News 1. Chronic absenteeism in North Carolina (May 29, 2026) (opens in a new tab) (2026-05-29)