More than 244,620 Colorado students missed a significant amount of school during the 2024-25 academic year, a sign that attendance and chronic absenteeism rates have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels five years after COVID-19 initially shuttered classrooms.

While both student attendance and chronic absenteeism remained largely flat last year, the state saw 3,500 more students miss significant amounts of school when compared to the 2023-24 academic year, according to data released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Education.

“Our overall statewide rates, unfortunately, are moving in the wrong direction of what we hoped to see,” Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova said.

A student is considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of the school days in an academi

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