States / Utah

Chronic absence in Utah

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

School year 2024-25

23%

of students were chronically absent¹

Chronically absent means missing 10 percent or more school days per year.³

U.S. rate: 22.6% (2024-25)²

Five-year trend

Utah, year by year

Utah chronic absence by school year
School year	Chronically absent
2019-20	9%
2020-21	19%
2021-22	29%
2022-23	26%
2023-24	23.8%
2024-25	23%

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

Where things stand

The numbers

About 23% of Utah students were chronically absent in 2024-25, which AEI labels 2025, based on state-reported data that AEI compiles¹.
The state board's own attendance flier puts 2024-2025 at nearly 1 in 4 Utah students chronically absent⁵.
The state board reported 23.8 percent for 2023-2024, down from 26% in 2022-2023³.
By the state board's count, chronic absenteeism nearly doubled in 10 years, from 12.2% in 2014 to 23.8% in 2024⁴.
The post-pandemic peak was 29% in 2021-22, which AEI labels 2022¹.
Utah's rate of about 23% in 2024-25 is close to the 22.6% across reporting states that year, which AEI labels 2025^1,2.

Requirements by role

What state rules ask of each role

Teachers

A teacher may base up to 10% of a student's final grade in a course in grades 7 through 12 on the student's attendance in that class⁷.
For a student in an attendance validated program, an absence means the student's failure to attend an assigned class or class period⁶.
Each LEA (local education agency) must train all relevant staff on attendance policies and procedures every year⁶.

Counselors

An LEA's efforts to resolve a student's absenteeism and truancy must include, as reasonably feasible, counseling of the student by school authorities⁶.
Those efforts must also include, as reasonably feasible, any necessary adjustment to the student's curriculum and schedule to meet special needs, and considering alternatives the parent proposes⁶.
The same list, also as reasonably feasible, includes voluntary participation in truancy mediation, if available, and giving the parent, upon request, a list of resources to help resolve the attendance problems⁶.
The attendance law defines an intervention as a series of non-punitive and increasingly frequent and individualized activities, including mentorship programs, family connection to community resources, and small-group or individualized tutoring⁶.

Attendance team

Each LEA must notify parents within two instructional days of a student's unexcused absence, including the total number for the school year⁶.
Each LEA must regularly review attendance data to identify students at risk of chronic absenteeism, and must implement tiered interventions for students with attendance concerns⁶.
In an attendance validated program, a school-age child (a minor who is at least six years old but younger than 18 years old and is not emancipated) is truant when absent without a valid excuse for at least half of the instructional day, and may not be considered truant more than one time during one day⁶.
A school administrator, a designee, a law enforcement officer acting as a school resource officer, or a truancy specialist may issue a parent a notice of compulsory education violation only if the child is in grade 1 through 6 and has been truant at least five times during the school year⁶.
That notice must direct the parent to meet with the school authorities it designates about the attendance problems and to cooperate in securing regular attendance, and must be served by personal service or certified mail⁶.

Principals & districts

Each LEA must make efforts to promote regular attendance and resolve absenteeism and truancy issues for each school-age child who is, or should be, enrolled in it; children exempt from attendance or enrolled in a private or part-time school are not covered by this duty⁶.
An LEA governing board may authorize a school administrator, a designee, a law enforcement officer acting as a school resource officer, or a truancy specialist to issue a notice of truancy, and must set a procedure for the student or parents to contest it⁶.
A notice of truancy may not be issued until a school-age child (a minor at least six years old but younger than 18 years old who is not emancipated) has been truant at least five times during the school year, and may not be issued to a school-age child who is less than 12 years old or in a grade below grade 7, or who is exempt from school attendance⁶.
The notice must direct the student and parent to meet with school authorities about the truancies and to cooperate in securing regular attendance, and must be mailed to or served on the parent⁶.
Each LEA must have written policies and procedures for attendance tracking, intervention and enforcement, apply them consistently across its schools, and communicate attendance expectations and consequences clearly to parents and students; its governing board must review attendance data, evaluate interventions every year, ensure adequate resources and approve policy changes in a public meeting⁶.

Recent changes

What changed lately

S.B. 58, Public School Attendance Amendments, was signed March 19, 2026, and took effect July 1, 2026^9,6.
It adds a state-law definition of chronic absenteeism: a student enrolled in an LEA for at least 60 calendar days who has been absent for at least 10% of days of instruction, excused or not⁶.
It also requires each LEA to review attendance data regularly, use tiered interventions, notify parents within two instructional days of an unexcused absence, and keep accurate and timely attendance records in its student information system⁶.
H.B. 502, School Attendance Modifications, takes effect on May 6, 2026: a teacher may include up to 10% of a student's final grade in a course in grades 7 through 12 based on the student's attendance in the class, and an LEA may adopt a policy that permits attendance to account for more than 10% but not more than 20%^9,7.
Such an LEA policy must be publicly posted, name the courses and the percentage, and permit valid excused absences to be left out of the grade calculation within reasonable limits⁷.
H.B. 145, School Excused Absence Amendments, was signed March 19, 2026, and took effect July 1, 2026; it adds as a valid excuse any reason a parent provides to justify a student's absence if the student maintains a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0^9,8.
The state board's attendance rule, last changed August 7, 2026, uses the same definition: enrolled for at least 60 calendar days and absent for at least 10% of days of instruction¹⁰.
That rule requires each LEA's attendance policy to set a clear process, timeline and standard for converting an unexcused absence into a truancy and to provide an appeals process, including to contest a notice of truancy or a notice of compulsory education; the policy must be reviewed in an open and public meeting at least every five years¹⁰.

Accountability

How the state holds schools to it

Utah's school report card shows Consistent Attendance, the inverse of chronic absenteeism, for informational purposes only; it does not contribute points toward a school's accountability score¹¹.
The report card's attendance measures include pre-K through grade 12, count students enrolled at least 60 calendar days with at least one day of reported attendance, and treat excused and unexcused absences the same¹¹.
Under the 2026 attendance law, the state board must set minimum standards for attendance data quality, audit LEA attendance data periodically and publish annual reports on statewide attendance trends and data quality⁶.
An LEA that fails those standards must develop and implement a corrective action plan within 60 days and submit it to the state board, send monthly progress reports until it complies and, as the state board determines, face withheld state funding, unless its only failure concerns tracking or reporting excused absences⁶.
Each LEA must report absences with and without a valid excuse separately to the state board every year, and keep records of each notice issued with any resulting referrals and general outcomes⁶.
A state board internal audit dated May 1, 2025 recommended that accountability at all levels be strengthened, including use and enforcement of existing compulsory education law¹².

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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)
Utah State Board of Education. Data Shows Improvement in Attendance, Less Absenteeism in Utah (press release) (opens in a new tab) (2025-02-11)
Utah State Board of Education. Everyday Counts: Attendance Strategies for Success, attendance webinar slides (opens in a new tab) (2025-09-09)
Utah State Board of Education. Statewide Attendance Campaign, Attendance Challenge flier 2026-27 (opens in a new tab) (2026-07)
Utah Legislature. S.B. 58 Public School Attendance Amendments, 2026 General Session, enrolled copy (amends Utah Code 53G-6-201, -202, -203, -206; enacts data quality and LEA accountability sections) (opens in a new tab) (2026 General Session; effective 2026-07-01)
Utah Legislature. H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications, 2026 General Session, enrolled copy (enacts attendance-based grading) (opens in a new tab) (2026 General Session)
Utah Legislature. H.B. 145 School Excused Absence Amendments, 2026 General Session, enrolled copy (amends the valid excuse definition in Utah Code 53G-6-201) (opens in a new tab) (2026 General Session; effective 2026-07-01)
Office of the Governor of Utah. Gov. Cox signs 74 bills in the 2026 General Legislative Session (news advisory) (opens in a new tab) (2026-03-19)
Utah State Board of Education. Utah Admin. Code R277-607 Absenteeism and Truancy Prevention (board rule text, last changed August 7, 2026) (opens in a new tab) (2026-08-07)
Utah State Board of Education. Utah Accountability Technical Manual (August 2026) (opens in a new tab) (2026-08)
Utah State Board of Education, Internal Audit Department (as heard in the Education Interim Committee). Attendance Audit, Report No. 25-01 (opens in a new tab) (2025-05-01)