Absence
Nine Ohio Districts Had Chronic-Absence Rates Above 50%
Nine Ohio districts reported chronic absenteeism rates above 50% in 2024-25; rounded rate-times-enrollment calculations estimate 53,798 affected students.
Ohio
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Ohio, grounded in Ohio Department of Education data.
Ohio's Poverty Attendance Gap Is Narrowing — But It Remains 14 Points
The gap between Ohio's economically disadvantaged and white students narrowed from 20.2 to 14.2 points since 2022, while the economically disadvantaged rate fell from 44.4% to 33.3%.
Ohio's County Attendance Divide: 6.2% in Putnam, 32.1% in Cuyahoga
Enrollment-weighted Ohio chronic absenteeism rates ranged from 6.2% in Putnam County to 32.1% in Cuyahoga County in 2024-25.
Cleveland Reversed Two Years of Attendance Gains in 2024-25
Cleveland's chronic absenteeism rate jumped 4.2 points to 55.7% in 2024-25 after falling from 62.3% to 51.5% over three years. Every subgroup worsened.
More Than Half of Columbus Students Were Chronically Absent
Columbus improved to a 52.6% chronic absenteeism rate in 2024-25, while Cleveland and Cincinnati reversed course.
More Coverage
Absence
Ohio's Attendance Recovery Slowed for a Third Year
Ohio's statewide chronic absenteeism rate fell to 25.1% in 2024-25, but its annual improvement slowed to 0.5 percentage points.
Equity
Nearly Half of Ohio's Black Students Are Chronically Absent — and the Gap Is Widening Again
42.9% of Ohio's Black students are chronically absent, more than double the white rate. The 23.8-point gap grew slightly in 2025 after two years of narrowing.
Covid Impact
Ohio Now 73,805 Below Pre-COVID Enrollment
Five years after COVID, Ohio's enrollment hasn't recovered. It's gotten worse. Two in three districts sit below their pandemic floor as losses accelerate.
Demographics
Licking Heights: From 30 Asian Students to 1,471 in a Decade
A Columbus-area district grew 36.6% while Ohio shrank, fueled by Nepali, Somali, and other immigrant families drawn to affordable housing and jobs.
Enrollment
11 Ohio Districts Have Lost Students Every Year Since 2015
Eleven districts have declined every single year for 11 straight years, losing 30.7% of their combined enrollment. Most are clustered in northeast Ohio.
Career Tech
Career-Tech Enrollment Soars While Traditional Districts Shrink
Ohio's 49 Joint Vocational School Districts added 20,389 students in five years while traditional districts shed 78,000. The boom is straining capacity.
Demographics
Ohio Lost 203,000 White Students. Every Other Group Grew.
White enrollment in Ohio public schools fell 15.4% since 2015, accounting for more than 100% of the state's total decline. Hispanic, Asian, multiracial, and Black enrollment all increased.
Enrollment
Ohio Lost 19,611 Students in 2025, the Biggest Non-COVID Drop
Ohio enrollment fell by 19,611 students in 2025-26, the largest non-COVID decline on record, and 391 districts now sit at all-time lows.
School Choice
Ohio's community schools grew 16% since COVID. Traditional districts never recovered.
43% of Ohio's community schools now enroll more students than before COVID. Only 16% of traditional districts can say the same.
Grade Shift
Ohio's Kindergarten Class Hits a Record Low
Ohio's 2025-26 kindergarten class of 112,390 is the smallest in 12 years, 1,865 below the COVID floor.
