Chronic absenteeism surged statewide after the COVID-19 pandemic. Students defined as “chronically” absent miss 10% or more school days, which amounts to 18 or more annual absences.
Most area districts, including Vernon and West Milford, saw absenteeism climb in the years following the pandemic, then start to decrease in 2024 and 2025.
Since 2017, the Newton school district’s chronic absenteeism rate has been above the state average, while West Milford’s has remained below.
Sparta schools are an outlier; the district had high absenteeism rates in 2018 and 2019. The district’s numbers have decreased significantly since.
There is no available data for the 2019-2020 year due to remote learning during the pandemic. During the 2020-2021 school year, remote learning was still in session for many schools.