Roughly 40% of students in Grand Rapids Public Schools were chronically absent from school in 2025. That number dropped 4.7% year-over year, as of May 31.
Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing more than 10% of the school year, spiked to 54% for GRPS in 2022, according to data from the Return 2 Learn Tracker by the American Enterprise Institute. The database used counts from both states and the U.S. Department of Education to estimate percentages across the country. In 2025, the rate of chronic absenteeism was 41% of GRPS students.
GRPS has partnered with Attendance Works, a nonprofit consulting firm, to combat absenteeism. The district rate of satisfactory attendance has increased 6.4% from the 2024-25 school year. District schools that were part of a professional learning cohort saw absenteeism drop up to 9.5% that school year.
“Research shows that chronic absence—missing 10 percent of the school year, whether excused or unexcused—can hinder elementary students’ reading skills by third grade and increase the likelihood of dropout for older students,” said a GRPS spokesperson via email. “Moreover, absenteeism can become a habit; those who are chronically absent in elementary school often continue the pattern in middle and high school.”
Kent School Services Network has also worked with GRPS to provide coordinators at several GRPS schools to help with absenteeism. Per the spokesperson, 14 of 19 schools with a coordinator saw decreased absenteeism in the last year.
The Return 2 Learn Tracker provides data from 2017 to 2025. Pre-pandemic, chronic absenteeism rates for the district were at or below 27%.
This jump tracks nationwide and state trends. Chronic absenteeism skyrocketed across the country in the post-pandemic period. The state of Michigan spiked in 2022 at 39%, the fifth-highest rate in the nation at the time. In 2025, the statewide average fell to 29%.
The causes of chronic absenteeism usually fall into four categories: barriers, aversion, disengagement, and misconceptions, the GRPS spokesperson stated. The last category includes parents believing that many excused absences are fine, or that missing two days a month won’t harm learning.
Other area school districts experienced similar spikes, according to the tracker. Grand River Preparatory High School, a free public charter school, reported 51% absenteeism in 2022 and 2025, with drops in between. Kentwood Public Schools district peaked in chronic absenteeism at 35% in 2022 and was at 26% last year.
Wyoming Public Schools recorded 40% of students chronically absent in 2025, down slightly from 43% in 2022. Forest Hills Public Schools reported a high of 20% of students who were chronically absent in 2022. That number fell to 10% in 2025.
Write to juliana@grherald.com