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 a

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