Student attendance dropped in Michigan last year. Here’s how Sturgis-area schools fared

LANSING — New data from the Michigan Department of Education shows K-12 student attendance dropped below 89 percent in the 2021-22 school year.

After hitting 93 percent in the 2019-20 school year, statewide attendance at public schools was at 88.82 percent last school year.

In addition, the number of students considered “chronically absent” increased from previous years. Students are deemed chronically absent if they miss 10 percent or more of possible days during the scheduled school year.

For the 2021-22 year, just over 38 percent of students were chronically absent across the state. That number was around 20 percent over the previous four years.

The gap in attendance rates for economically disadvantaged students and non-economically disadvantaged students grew across the state as well.

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For those economically disadvantaged, the attendance rate was 86 percent, 6.1 percent lower than those that were not disadvantaged. The difference between those groups was 3.9 percent in 2019-20.

“These data are consistent with what we have already known to be true during the past two years — students have received less instruction during the pandemic,” stated State Superintendent Michael Rice. “Students need more instructional time, especially vulnerable students such as those who are economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, and English learners.”

Rice encourages parents and districts to focus on attendance to “make the best use of the time that is available to them for student instruction.”

Data from MiSchoolData.org shows how each public school district in the state fared.

Three Rivers had an attendance rate of 90.86 percent last year. The district had 34 percent of students deemed chronically absent. Chronically absent students had an attendance rate of 81.3 percent, while other students were at 95.2.

Mendon’s attendance rate was also 90.86 percent. A total of 34.3 percent of students were chronically absent and combined for an 81.8 percent attendance.

At Bronson, students were in attendance 90.64 percent of the time. Around one-third, 33.7 percent, of the student body was chronically absent. Those chronically absent had an 81 percent attendance rate.

Sturgis had an 89.7 percent attendance rate and 33.9 percent of students chronically absent. That chunk of students had a 77.2 percent attendance, compared to 95.5 for those not chronically absent.

At Centreville, students were in school 89.62 percent of the time and 41.5 percent of students were chronically absent. Those students came to school 81.9 percent of the time.

The attendance rate at White Pigeon was 89.57 percent, including 79.2 percent among chronically absent students, which totaled 37.9 percent of the district.

Colon had an 88.76 percent attendance rate with a chronically absent percentage of 41.5. Students that were chronically absent attended school 81 percent of the time.

Constantine’s attendance rate was 88.62 percent. A total of 35.3 percent of students were chronically absent and had an attendance rate of 76.3 percent.

Attendance at Burr Oak was 86.81 percent. More than half of students, 53.3 percent, percent were chronically absent. They had an attendance rate of 67.5 percent.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Most Sturgis-area school attendance rates higher than state average