A new study finds that approximately 46-thousand public school students in Rhode Island were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year.
This means one out of every three students missed at least ten percent of school days in the year, according to the Annenberg Institute at Brown University.
The problem expanded during the pandemic, due to the need for remote and hybrid learning, and the figures span from elementary to high school grades.
Missing this much in the early grades, state Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green says will make kids less likely to graduate high school.
While the McKee Administration has made the issue a top priority, Annenberg researchers say the trend is not likely to change in the near future.
(Photo by KYLIE COOPER/AFP via Getty Images)
Photo: KYLIE COOPER / AFP / Getty Images