Hillsdale’s fight against chronic absenteeism
Reported byHillsdale Collegian
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The Hillsdale Collegian reports on chronic absenteeism in Hillsdale schools. A student counts as chronically absent after missing 10% or more of the school year, which the U.S. Department of Education says is roughly 18 days in a 180-day year. Michigan's public education data portal shows that 20.8% of Hillsdale public school students, or 1,050 students, met that definition in 2025–26. The statewide rate that year was 27.2%.
Hillsdale's rate has dropped since the pandemic. It was 32.1% in 2021–22, then 22.4%, 23%, 20.7%, and 20.8% in the most recent year. Michigan's rate fell from 38.5% to 30.8%, 29.5%, 27.9%, and then 27.2%. The highest Hillsdale figure on record is 33.9% in 2012–13, or 2,207 students. The average was 21.5% for 2012–13 through 2018–19 and 23.4% for 2019–20 through 2025–26.
The article notes that attendance has improved while test scores have not. It says 38.2% of Michigan third graders were proficient in English Language Arts on the latest state test, the lowest in the test's 12-year history. It also says enrollment in Hillsdale is shrinking. Hillsdale Preparatory School closed earlier this year after nearly 25 years, and school officials attributed that to a falling county population. The Census estimates that population is down 0.4% since 2020.
Why it matters
Missing school is tied to a student's time in class, and the article shows Hillsdale doing better than the state average yet still seeing about one in five students chronically absent. It also links attendance to declining test scores and shrinking enrollment, which affect families, staff and school planning.
- Chronic absenteeism
- Test scores
- Literacy
- Enrollment decline
- School closures
Written with AI from the publisher's article and may contain errors. The original reporting is the authoritative source.
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- What might explain why Hillsdale's chronic absence rate has leveled off near 21% after falling sharply from its pandemic-era high?
- How should a district weigh improved attendance against falling state test results when judging whether students are doing well?
- How might declining local population and school closures affect efforts to keep students attending regularly?
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