Wrangell student absenteeism rate escalated over past decade; nearly double state average

In the 2022-2023 school year, over 70% of Wrangell students were chronically absent. That's nearly double the state average and nearly three times the national average.

The Alaska Department of Education, which posts school district absenteeism numbers every year, defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% of the school year. In Alaska, that amounts to 18 days of missed classes.

"If a student misses those 18 days every year from kindergarten to 12th grade, that will add up to them being absent for an entire school year," Wrangell Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said at the Dec. 16 school board meeting.

It's not all doom and gloom though.

Burr pointed out that the state's numbers are likely inflated.

"For the state," he said, "an absence is an absence."

Meaning, if a student were to miss a day of classes to play in a sporting event or travel for medical reasons - excused absences, according to the district's policies - the state reporting system will still mark that student absent. Thus, if Student A goes to Anchorage for medical reasons and Student B skips school to stay home and play video games, both students will be equally absent in the state report.

The 2022-2023 school year is the most recent year available in state records. And while it has been a growing trend nationally in recent years, the numbers have especially exploded in Wrangell.

In the 2017-2018 school year, just 7.06% of Wrangell secondary school students were chronically absent. Though that figure jumped to 25% the following year, the COVID-19 pandemic caused those numbers to explode. The 2021-2022 school year was the first post-pandemic year with available data. That year, 69.84% of Wrangell secondary school students were chronically absent.

Statewide, Alaska students were chronically absent 45% of the time in 2022-2023. The 49th state has some of the worst chronic absenteeism numbers in the country, with only Arizona having a higher figure.

For Burr, the district isn't left with many options for how to handle these rising numbers.

"If a student is chronically absent because they are in town but aren't coming to school, that's something we can work on within the district," he said.

The issue, though, is that chronic absenteeism isn't skyrocketing because students are playing hooky; it's skyrocketing because students - according to the superintendent - are spending more days out of town during the school year.

"If a family is going to spend that kind of money (to fly out of town), they are going to want to stay there longer and do more things," he said.

He gave an example: If someone has a doctor's appointment in Seattle, they will likely try and parlay that appointment into a full-on excursion. No one likely wants to spend substantial amounts of money to buy a plane ticket for just a doctor's visit; Burr suggested families are adding in a day of shopping or a day or two of vacation.

All the while, their kids are missing school.

He also named the deterioration of Alaska Marine Highway System service as a factor.

Years ago, the ferry offered a cheaper alternative than the Alaska Airlines jet for off-island travel, with several ferries heading through Wrangell north and south every week. Now, with just one weekly ferry each way, students are bound to miss extra days if their families opt to travel via the marine highway.