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States / New Jersey

Chronic absence in New Jersey

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

School year 2024-25

14.4%

of students were chronically absent1

Chronically absent means a student's absentee rate is equal to or greater than 10 percent.7

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)6

Five-year trend

New Jersey, year by year

0%10%20%30%not published2019-2013.1%2020-2118.1%2021-2216.6%2022-2314.9%2023-2414.4%2024-25U.S. rate 22.6% (2024-25)
New Jersey chronic absence by school year
School yearChronically absent
2019-20not published
2020-2113.1%
2021-2218.1%
2022-2316.6%
2023-2414.9%
2024-2514.4%

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

Where things stand

The numbers

  • In 2024-2025, 14.4% of New Jersey students were chronically absent, down from 14.9% in 2023-2024 and 16.6% in 2022-20231,2.
  • The rate peaked at 18.1% in 2021-22, right after the pandemic shutdowns3.
  • It is still above the pre-pandemic rate of 10.6% in 2018-191,3.
  • New Jersey is well below the national picture: across reporting states, 22.6% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, which AEI labels 20256. The state estimated the national rate at 22% for 2024-20251.
  • Starting in 2024-2025, students with fewer than 90 days in a school are left out of the count; before that the cutoff was 45 days, so year-to-year comparisons need care15.

Requirements by role

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

  • The school a student attends must document that student's attendance every day15.
  • Absences the district excuses under its own policy still count as absences for the state; they can never be recorded as present15.
  • A student on out-of-school suspension is recorded as absent unless the student gets qualifying home instruction15.
  • A full school day is at least four hours, not counting recess and lunch, except that one continuous session of two and one-half hours may count as a full day in kindergarten9.

Counselors

  • For a student with up to four unexcused absences, schools must work with the parents to identify what needs to happen to stop the pattern and get the child back to regular attendance8.
  • At five to nine unexcused absences, schools must write an action plan with goals and the supports that will help the student return to regular attendance8.
  • That plan may include a referral to the building's intervention and referral services team, or to a community health or social service agency8.
  • For a student with a disability, the attendance plan and its procedures apply, where applicable, in line with the student's individualized education program, procedural protections, accommodation plan and individualized healthcare plans8.

Attendance team

  • For each unexcused absence, schools must make a reasonable attempt to notify the parents before the next school day starts8.
  • Schools must also make a reasonable attempt to find the cause of each unexcused absence, including by contacting the parents8.
  • A student between the ages of six and 16 with 10 or more unexcused absences is truant, and the district must decide whether a court referral is needed8.
  • If the parent is referred to municipal court, the school must send the court a written report of what it has done about the student's attendance8.

Principals & districts

  • Each district board must adopt attendance policies, including its own definition of an unexcused absence that counts toward truancy8.
  • Each school where 10% or more of students are chronically absent must write a corrective action plan; the district itself does not write one10,11.
  • The plan must include protocols for engaging parents when a child starts to show a pattern of absences, and the school must survey parents on why students miss school10.
  • The school presents the plan to the board and revises it every year until fewer than 10 percent of students are chronically absent7.
  • Districts must make sure their schools comply, and must submit final attendance data to the state by June 30 each year11,15.

Recent changes

What changed lately

  • Chronic Absenteeism Task Force: P.L.2025, c.181 was approved December 23, 2025 and took effect right away16,21.
  • The task force has 20 members and must give its final report to the Governor and Legislature no later than one year after it organizes16.
  • Its duties include recommending the best ways for districts to build family engagement to fight chronic absenteeism16.
  • Since the 2024-2025 school year, students enrolled fewer than 90 days at a school are left out of chronic absence and accountability counts; the old cutoff was 45 days15.
  • Since the 2025-2026 school year, districts report attendance through a new state student data system15.
  • The corrective action plan rule has existed since 2018, but updated district monitoring indicators have increased state oversight of compliance11.
  • Pending, not law: a Senate bill introduced in January 2026, would require an attendance review team that meets at least monthly when a district's rate is 10% or more or any school's rate is 15% or more17,18.

Accountability

How the state holds schools to it

  • Chronic absenteeism is New Jersey's School Quality or Student Success indicator under its ESSA plan, weighted 10%13.
  • In the 2024-25 summative ratings, chronic absenteeism carries a weight of 0.10 when the English language proficiency indicator is available and 0.15 when it is not14.
  • Each school's annual target is the statewide average for students in the grades it serves13.
  • The next identification of schools for comprehensive and targeted support will be in fall 2026, based on 2025-2026 data13.
  • Starting with the 2023-2024 reports, the state's school performance reports show whether each school must write a corrective action plan2.
  • The state district monitoring checklist (worth 8 points) checks that every school at or above the threshold has presented a corrective action plan to the board and surveyed parents12.
  • The Commissioner of Education must review each school's and district's chronic absenteeism rate every year10.

What’s working

Efforts with results

  • Newark, the state's largest district, cut chronic absenteeism from 27% in 2018-19 to 10% in 2024-25, per state data19.
  • The district reports 8.5% for 2025-26; the state had not yet published 2025-26 rates when this was reported19.
  • District leaders said the state's new 90-day counting rule helped, so part of the drop may come from the rule change19.
  • The district revived its attendance department, created individual intervention plans for at-risk students and set up a truancy task force19.
  • In a back-to-school campaign, district employees call the families of five students each to urge them to show up on the first day of classes19.

Working on chronic absence in New Jersey?

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Sources

Sources

  1. New Jersey Department of Education. School Performance Data Shows Gains in Key Metrics of College and Career Readiness (press release) (opens in a new tab) (2026-05-07)
  2. New Jersey Department of Education. New Jersey Department of Education Releases 2023-2024 School Performance Reports (press release) (opens in a new tab) (2025-04-02)
  3. Rutgers University, Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling / Policy Lab. Closing the Attendance Gap: How New Jersey Compares to Peer States (opens in a new tab) (2025-12-11)
  4. New Jersey Department of Education. 2022-2023 School Performance Reports and Graduation Data, State Board of Education presentation (April 2024) (opens in a new tab) (2024-04)
  5. American Federation of Teachers New Jersey. N.J. DOE: Absenteeism increased in 2020-21 (opens in a new tab) (2022-04-08)
  6. 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)
  7. Legal Information Institute (Cornell) copy of the N.J. Administrative Code. N.J.A.C. 6A:32-8.6 Chronic absenteeism (opens in a new tab) (effective 2022-07-05; accessed 2026-10-13)
  8. Legal Information Institute (Cornell) copy of the N.J. Administrative Code. N.J.A.C. 6A:16-7.6 Attendance (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
  9. Legal Information Institute (Cornell) copy of the N.J. Administrative Code. N.J.A.C. 6A:32-8.3 School attendance (day in session) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
  10. New Jersey Legislature. P.L.2018, c.23 (chronically absent students, corrective action plan) (opens in a new tab) (2018-05-30)
  11. New Jersey Department of Education. Chronic Absenteeism: Frequently Asked Questions and Compliance Guidance (updated April 2025) (opens in a new tab) (2025-04)
  12. New Jersey Department of Education. NJQSAC Student Attendance Policies and Procedures Compliance Checklist (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
  13. New Jersey Department of Education. ESSA Accountability (Title I) webpage (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
  14. New Jersey Department of Education. 2024-25 Technical Guide to ESSA Summative Ratings and the Identification of Schools in Need of Support and Improvement (opens in a new tab) (2026-05)
  15. New Jersey Department of Education. Reporting Student Attendance and Determining Chronic Absenteeism Rates (April 2026) (opens in a new tab) (2026-04)
  16. New Jersey Legislature. P.L.2025, c.181 (Chronic Absenteeism Task Force) (opens in a new tab) (2025-12-23)
  17. New Jersey Legislature. Senate Bill S294 (2026 session), as introduced (opens in a new tab) (2026-01-13)
  18. New Jersey Legislature. Bill history: S294 (2026 session) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
  19. Chalkbeat Newark. Newark's chronic absenteeism rate drops to 8.5%. Here's what district leaders say is working. (opens in a new tab) (2026-08-28)
  20. New Jersey Department of Education. Promoting Regular School Attendance and Addressing Chronic Absenteeism (webpage) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)
  21. New Jersey Legislature. Bill history: S3776 (2024-2025 session) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-13)