It’s time again for Utah kids to go back to school.
But in recent years, attending class has been hit-or-miss for a growing number of students in the state’s K-12 schools.
Chronic absenteeism in Utah has nearly doubled over the past decade — jumping from 12.2% in 2014 to 23.8% in 2024. And it’s happening across every grade level, region and demographic group across the state.
Meanwhile, the consequences of chronic absenteeism — defined as missing 10% or more of the school year for any reason — stretch beyond declines in classroom performance, grade-point averages and even graduation rates.
Educators say that chronically absent students are missing out on daily opportunities to build essential social skills and meaningful relationships with teachers and fellow students.
Such lifelong developmental foundations begin to crack when students frequently skip school.
In an effort to find positive solutions to chronic absenteeism, the Utah State Board of Education is launching a statewide attendance campaign dubbed “Every Day Counts.”
“Each school day is an opportunity for students to learn, build relationships, and grow in meaningful ways,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Molly Hart.
“Our ‘Every Day Counts’ campaign is about working alongside families to remove barriers to attendance. We want to ensure parents and students feel supported so students can show up, stay engaged, and thrive.”
The “Every Day Counts” initiative provides resources for families, educators, data tracking tools and community partnerships to help address transportation, mental health and other challenges that impact student attendance, according to the USBE.
So why are so many Utah kids cutting class?
There are myriad reasons why rising numbers of Utah kids are frequently missing from class. It varies from family to family.
In some cases, it may be a transportation issue. Other times, older students are skipping class because they are helping to provide for their families by working jobs or caring for younger siblings.
And other students are battling mental health challenges. They don’t feel comfortable in a traditional classroom setting.
And while chronic absenteeism is a family issue — many of its solutions can likely be found in the community, said Megan Menlove, a state board of education attendance support specialist.
“Research has shown that when you engage your community — and get community partners — it can help reduce the barriers for families, ” Menlove told the Deseret News.
“That’s part of why we’re doing a statewide campaign — we’re also working together to have partnerships outside of school.”
The “Every Day Counts” campaign is designed to empower schools, districts, educators and communities to become school attendance “ambassadors.”
While some argue that a return to a heavy-handed, punitive approach is the answer to curbing chronic absenteeism, Menlove hopes the new initiative will champion a more positive approach to the issue.
“We’re hoping to show schools and districts that if we can do it at a state level, that they hopefully can do it within their own community and find partners to reduce the barriers for students coming to school,” she said.
The goals of the initiative are simple:
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Reduce chronic absenteeism rates.
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Increase daily attendance rates.
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And, raise awareness of the benefits of regular attendance.
A key element of the “Every Day Counts” effort is broad participation among schools, districts and communities. So local educators and others are invited to join the campaign’s “Statewide Attendance Challenge” by filling out an online form to tap into resources to promote school attendance, track progress and share success stories.
Elements of the campaign include an attendance toolkit that helps attendance systems at the district and school level, posters to hang around the school, handouts for parents, monthly social media posts, and a statewide attendance Google folder that includes “best practices” throughout the state.
Enlisting front-line ‘attendance ambassadors’
A key component of the “Every Day Counts” is mobilizing a team of statewide “attendance ambassadors’ to promote the campaign within their respective communities.
Already, ambassadors have been enlisted from within Utah’s school administrator and teacher ranks — along with several parent and community partners.
Evan Feinberg is an educator at West Jordan’s West Hills Middle School and is volunteering as a campaign attendance ambassador.
The social studies teacher is witnessing, firsthand, the consequences of chronic absenteeism in his classroom.
“There is no substitute for in-class learning,” he said, challenging the belief that time missed in class can easily be made up by, say, going online for supplemental instruction.
But the costs of chronic absenteeism, Feinberg added, extend beyond low academic performance.
“Chronically absent students are not as connected to the student community,” he told the Deseret News. “They just don’t seem as invested in the school community and school culture.”
Now Feinberg hopes that the state initiative will bring community-wide attention, action and ownership to the chronic absenteeism issue in Utah schools.
“We’re excited about this statewide message,” added Menlove, “and we’re trying to engage the whole community — not just schools in this campaign.”
