More than half of Columbus City Schools District^↗ET students were chronically absent in 2024-25. The district reported a 52.6% rate under Ohio's chronic-absence measure.

That rate was 5.2 percentage points lower than Columbus's 57.8% result in 2022-23. It was still above Cincinnati Public Schools^↗ET, at 45.6%, and below Cleveland Municipal^↗ET, at 55.7%.

Columbus improved as the other two reversed

Columbus's chronic absenteeism rate fell in each year of the four-report series: from 65.1% in 2021-22 to 57.8%, 54.2%, and 52.6%.

Cleveland followed the same direction through 2023-24, moving from 62.3% to 51.5%. Its rate then increased 4.2 points to 55.7% in 2024-25.

Cincinnati fell from 53.0% to 43.5% over the first three reports, then increased 2.1 points to 45.6% in the latest year. Cincinnati, not Columbus, had the lowest 2024-25 rate of the three.

An estimated 58,509 students

The three districts enrolled 113,843 students in the attendance files for 2024-25. Multiplying each district's reported enrollment by its chronic absenteeism rate produces a combined estimate of 58,509 chronically absent students.

The rounded estimates are 24,224 students in Columbus, 18,603 in Cleveland, and 15,682 in Cincinnati. These are calculated estimates, not separately reported counts.

Rates varied across Columbus student groups

Students with disabilities had the highest rate among the seven Columbus groups examined, at 61.6%. The rate was 56.5% for Black students, 52.8% for economically disadvantaged students, and 51.4% for Hispanic students.

White students had a 44.8% rate, while English learners had a 42.4% rate. The categories overlap and do not sum to one student population.

The attendance files establish the reported rates and enrollment denominators. They do not identify why the rates changed, so no program, policy, or demographic mechanism is assigned here.

Rates and enrollment come from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's Ohio School Report Card download files.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.