Four in 10 Nome Elementary students are chronically absent so far this year

Four in 10 students at Nome Elementary School have already missed enough school this year to count as chronically absent, according to a report prepared for Tuesday's school board meeting.

The school counted 114 of its 281 students as chronically absent, meaning they have missed at least 10% of the days they were enrolled, or about one day every two weeks. Thirty-six students have missed more than a fifth of their school days.

First grade has the highest share. Half of first graders, 26 children, are chronically absent. Fourth grade is close behind at 47%.

Attendance has fallen most among the youngest students. Kindergarten attendance fell from 97% in August to 86% in October, and first grade from 91% to 83%.

"As we start to see attendance dropping overall, we've drilled down further to examine cases of chronic absenteeism," Principal Corey Shepherd and Assistant Principal Jennifer Shreve wrote in the report.

For many students, the problem isn't new. More than half of the chronically absent first through fifth graders were also chronically absent last school year. In fourth grade, it was 20 of 30.

Tracking those repeat cases can help the school address absences that stretch across years, Shepherd and Shreve wrote.

"We have begun individual outreach to affected families to identify root causes and barriers to offer supports that we have available," they wrote.

Schoolwide attendance slipped each month after school started, from 90% in August to 88% in October.

Statewide, 42.8% of Alaska students were chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year, according to a draft strategic plan prepared for the State Board of Education. Rates have declined over the past four years, but "overall levels remain high," the plan says. The draft proposes cutting chronic absence by 6% from its 2026 level by 2029.

Nome Elementary's enrollment has also dropped since the start of the school year, from 291 to 281, mainly because of "outmigration from the community," the report says.