Elmhurst D205 Absenteeism Falls; Big Drop At York

ELMHURST, IL – Chronic absenteeism dropped in Elmhurst School District 205 last year, a trend reflected in other school systems, according to the Illinois Report Card website.

The state tracks the rate of students who are absent 10 percent or more of the days in a school year, whether excused or not. For a 180-day year, that means a student missed at least 18 days, or 3½ weeks.

District-wide, 12 percent of students were chronically absent last year, down from 19 percent the previous year. Before the pandemic, the rate was 8 percent.

York High School saw an even bigger decline, falling to 22 percent, from 37 percent a year earlier, according to state statistics. The pre-pandemic rate was 10 percent.

In school districts around the state, absenteeism rose with the pandemic.

District 205's overall chronic absenteeism of 12 percent last year compares to 16 percent in Wheaton District 200, 15 percent in Naperville District 203 and 14 percent in Barrington District 220. Those districts are all kindergarten through 12th grade.

York High's absenteeism of 22 percent was near the rate of high schools in similarly wealthy areas. For example, Hinsdale Central and Lyons Township high schools were at 19 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM

Here are the percentages of students who missed at least 10 percent of days in a school year with or without a valid excuse:

Elmhurst District 205
2024 12%
2023 19%
2022 14%
2019 8%
2018 9%

Naperville District 203
2024 15%
2023 17%
2022 20%
2019 5%
2018 10%

Barrington District 220
2024 14%
2023 18%
2022 16%
2019 4%
2018 6%

Wheaton District 200
2024 16%
2023 19%
2022 18%
2019 10%
2018 13%

High schools:

York (Elmhurst)
2024 22%
2023 37%
2022 22%
2019 10%
2018 16%

Hinsdale Central (Hinsdale)
2024 19%
2023 21%
2022 20%
2019 9%
2018 13%

Lyons Township (La Grange)
2024 23%
2023 24%
2022 28%
2019 13%
2018 11%

Source: Illinois Report Card