Kindergarten is important, but illness, tears make chronic absenteeism a challenge in California

By Jenny Gold, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Many parents worry about “senioritis” causing their teenagers to cut class. But the students who miss the most days of school in California are kindergartners, according to a report released Monday.

While skipping out on Play-Doh and coloring might not sound serious, chronic absenteeism — defined as missing at least 10% of school days — in the early years can have long-term impacts on literacy, future educational success and social-emotional development.

Studies have found that students who are chronically absent in kindergarten are less likely to read and count proficiently by the end of third grade, and the declines are particularly acute among English-language learners.

The report by Los Angeles-based nonprofit Families in Schools in pa