States / Texas

Chronic absence in Texas

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

School year 2024-25

18.0%

of students were chronically absent¹

Chronically absent means K–12 students enrolled for at least 10 days and absent for 10 percent or more days.⁵

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)⁶

Five-year trend

Texas, year by year

Texas chronic absence by school year
School year	Chronically absent
2019-20	6.7%
2020-21	15.0%
2021-22	25.7%
2022-23	20.3%
2023-24	19.0%
2024-25	18.0%

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

Where things stand

The numbers

In 2024-25, 18.0% of Texas students were chronically absent, down from 19.0% in 2023-24^1,5.
The rate peaked at 25.7% in 2021-22 and is still well above the 11.4% seen in 2018-19, before the pandemic^2,4.
Texas public schools counted 5,530,499 students in the 2024-25 state report, so even small rate changes affect many children¹.
Gaps are wide: 22.2% of African American students and 20.6% of Hispanic students were chronically absent in 2024-25, against 12.9% of White students and 6.5% of Asian students¹.
Rates were also high for students in special education (21.6%), economically disadvantaged students (22.2%) and emergent bilingual students (19.1%) in 2024-25¹.
Texas's 18.0% is below the national rate of 22.6% for 2024-25, though states measure absence in slightly different ways^1,6.

Requirements by role

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

Every teacher or staff member who records attendance must certify in writing that the records are true and correct, signing and dating them within one calendar week⁹, unless the district uses a secure paperless attendance system, in which case records do not need to be generated and signed weekly⁹.
By default each campus takes official attendance at one fixed time of day that it chooses, such as 9:45 a.m., and must not change it during the school year⁹. A board policy, or documented procedures the superintendent sets after the board delegates that authority, may allow an alternative time for the whole campus or for certain groups of students⁹. A whole-campus change adopted after the school year starts waits until the next school year; a group change can apply as soon as the policy or procedures are in place⁹.
Classroom teachers must make up a majority of each attendance committee that hears requests for class credit from students who missed too many days (TEC § 25.092)⁸.

Counselors

One of the allowed truancy prevention measures is a referral to counseling, mediation, mentoring, a teen court program, or other school or community services (TEC § 25.0915)⁸.
If a student's truancy results from pregnancy, foster care, homelessness, a severe or life-threatening illness, or being the family's main earner, the district must offer more counseling and may not refer the student to truancy court (TEC § 25.0915)⁸.
For a student with a disability, the district must have steps to tell the special education (ARD) or Section 504 committee about attendance problems¹⁰.

Attendance team

Schools must notify the parent when a student has unexcused absences on three days or parts of days within four weeks, and must ask for a parent conference (TEC § 25.095)⁸.
At three or more unexcused days or parts of days within four weeks, the district must start truancy prevention measures for the student (TEC § 25.0915)⁸.
A behavior improvement plan used as a prevention measure may last no more than 45 school days⁸.
State rules require every prevention measure to find the root cause of the student's unexcused absences and keep up ongoing communication with the student and parents¹⁰.
Each district must employ a truancy prevention facilitator or juvenile case manager to carry out the truancy prevention measures, or instead may designate an existing district employee or juvenile case manager to do so (TEC § 25.0915)⁸.

Principals & districts

At the start of each school year, schools must tell parents in writing what happens if a student is absent on 10 or more days or parts of days within six months in the same school year (TEC § 25.095)⁸.
After 10 or more unexcused absences (days or parts of days) within six months in the same school year, the district must refer the student to truancy court within 10 school days of the 10th absence, unless prevention measures are working and a delay or no referral is in the student's best interest (TEC § 25.0951)⁸.
Each truancy court referral must certify that prevention measures were tried and failed, and must say whether the student receives special education services (TEC § 25.0915)⁸.
Students in kindergarten through grade 12 may not get credit or a final grade unless they attend at least 90 percent of the days a class is offered; students at 75 to 90 percent can earn credit through a plan the principal approves (TEC § 25.092)⁸.
Districts must report truancy data each year and the number of chronically absent students at each campus to the state data system^10,11.

Recent changes

What changed lately

SB 991 took effect on September 1, 2025. It defines a chronically absent student as one absent for more than 10 percent of instructional time in a school year, or in an enrollment period over 30 instructional days^12,11.
SB 991 also added chronically absent students to the list of students at risk of dropping out of school (TEC § 29.081)^13,12.
In a letter dated November 6, 2025, TEA told districts they must now provide accelerated instruction to students who meet the chronic absence or truancy criteria¹⁴.
TEA's letter says only unexcused absences, and locally excused absences that the state does not fund, count toward chronic absence under SB 991¹⁴.
SB 991 requires TEA to publish truancy and chronic absence data for each campus and district every year¹².
HB 2 repealed the rule that districts spend 55% of compensatory education funds on direct instruction for at-risk students, effective with the 2025-2026 fiscal year; TEA says districts must still prioritize at-risk students (TEC § 48.104)^11,15.
A 2023 law (HB 3917), effective September 1, 2023, lets a district and a parent charged over a child's absences agree that the parent completes counseling, training or another program⁸.
The state rule that lets the commissioner sanction districts that do not follow the truancy prevention law was amended effective December 28, 2025¹⁰.

Accountability

How the state holds schools to it

Chronic absence is not a rated indicator in Texas's A-F system: the 2026 manual's school quality component uses STAAR results for elementary and middle schools and college, career and military readiness for high schools¹⁶.
Attendance rate, for students in grades 1-12, is one of the indicators used to award academic distinction designations¹⁶.
TEA reports chronic absence in the Texas Academic Performance Report and in the state's federal report card^1,17.
Since September 1, 2025, districts must report the number of chronically absent students at each campus, and TEA must publish campus and district data each year^11,12.

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Sources

Texas Education Agency. 2024-25 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), State (opens in a new tab) (2025)
Texas Education Agency. 2023-24 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), State (opens in a new tab) (2024)
Texas Education Agency. 2021-22 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), State (opens in a new tab) (2022)
Texas Education Agency. 2020-21 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), State (opens in a new tab) (2021)
Texas Education Agency. 2024-25 Comprehensive TAPR Glossary (opens in a new tab) (2025)
American Enterprise Institute. From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition? Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2025 (Nat Malkus) (opens in a new tab) (2026-06-30)
Texas Office of Court Administration. Summary of Juvenile or Minor Activity by County, Justice Courts (opens in a new tab) (2026-01-23)
Texas Legislative Council (Texas Constitution and Statutes). Texas Education Code ch. 25, § 25.095 (Warning Notices) (opens in a new tab) (current code)
Texas Education Agency. 2025-2026 Student Attendance Accounting Handbook (adopted) (opens in a new tab) (2025)
Texas Education Agency. 19 TAC Chapter 129, Subchapter BB, Commissioner's Rules Concerning Truancy (December 2025 update) (opens in a new tab) (2025-12)
Texas Legislative Council (Texas Constitution and Statutes). Texas Education Code ch. 48, § 48.009 (Required PEIMS Reporting) (opens in a new tab) (current code)
Texas Legislature Online. S.B. No. 991, 89th Legislature, Regular Session (2025), enrolled version (opens in a new tab) (2025)
Texas Legislative Council (Texas Constitution and Statutes). Texas Education Code ch. 29, § 29.081 (Compensatory, Intensive, and Accelerated Instruction) (opens in a new tab) (current code)
Texas Education Agency. SB 991: Expansion of At-Risk Student Definition (To the Administrator Addressed letter) (opens in a new tab) (2025-11-06)
Texas Education Agency. HB 2 Implementation: Repeal of 55% Spending Requirement for Compensatory Education Allotment (To the Administrator Addressed letter) (opens in a new tab) (2025-10-16)
Texas Education Agency. 2026 Accountability Manual (opens in a new tab) (2026)
Texas Education Agency. 2024-25 Federal Report Card (state level) (opens in a new tab) (2025)