Balt. Sun: Nearly 1 in 5 Maryland students is chronically absent. - MCPS: Watkins Mill High 41.5%

...Last year, more than half of all Woodlawn students missed at least 10 percent of school last year.

The state calls that chronically absent. Research shows that it’s enough absences to make a difference in those students’ futures...

...In Anne Arundel County, it was 15 percent. In Harford County, it was 14.6 percent. In Carroll County, it was 11.4 percent.

Even in the highly regarded Howard County school district, which had the lowest rate of chronic absenteeism in the state, roughly one in 10 kids missed at least 10 percent of school days.

The longstanding problem of chronic absenteeism is now gaining attention as states begin putting in place new accountability systems under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

In Maryland’s new five-star rating system, which debuts this September, absentee rates account for 15 percent of a school’s grade. Sue Fothergill, associate director for policy at San Francisco-based Attendance Works, says that’s one of the largest percentages in the nation...

...When the State Board began looking at the numbers last winter, some members began asking whether the rates were a window into another problem.

“There is some indication that we should be concerned about kids who are chronically absent still getting diplomas,” board President Andrew Smarick said...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/k-12/bs-md-chronic-absenteeism-20180604-story.html