More than 30% of Colorado students in grades 8-12 missed more than 10% of school days last year — part of a statewide struggle in which the number of children counted as chronically absent ticked up while the statewide attendance rate took a slight dip. The state education department counted about 3,500 more students who regularly did not show up to school, extending a worrisome trend in the years following the pandemic: More than 1 in 4 Colorado students were chronically absent.
