When you hear the term chronic absenteeism, it may seem obscure and easy to dismiss—but this challenge is real and urgent. Since the pandemic, chronic absenteeism of K-12 students has taken root in our community and continues to affect families, schools, and our future. The outcome has far-reaching social and economic impacts that threaten us all. Now is the time for action. Together, we have the power to reverse this trend and protect the promise of opportunity for our youth and every Nevadan. Our community’s strength lies in our collective resolve— Instead of placing blame, let’s face this head-on and build a brighter future for everyone.
Chronic Absenteeism: A Complex Statewide Challenge
Chronic absenteeism is a complex statewide challenge with many root causes, such as socioeconomic issues, physical and mental health-related concerns, bullying, transportation, lack of before-and-after care, and more. There’s no single source and no single solution. Too often, responsibility gets passed around: Is it up to the schools or the parents? The truth is, we all share in the problem and its impacts. As I shared with The Nevada Independent earlier this month,
“It’s very easy for people who haven’t done the research to say it’s the school’s problem or it’s the parents’ problem, and the reality is it’s everyone’s problem, and we all need to put our collective heads together to figure out a solution, or we’re all going to pay for the problem.”. – Rocio Hernandez’s May 5, 2025 article for The Nevada Independent “Analysis: Chronically absent students could cost Southern Nevada billions if left unaddressed.”
The issue doesn’t stop at our school district’s lines, or merely play out in a child’s own life. Chronic absenteeism has far-reaching economic effects that ripple across our state and will cost us billions.
The High Price of Doing Nothing
Our findings with Applied Analysis, The Cost of Chronic Absenteeism, make it clear: if Nevada allows chronic absenteeism to persist at pandemic-affected levels, our state could lose out on billions. As reported, “the issue could cost Southern Nevada $610 million in economic loss and societal costs over the lifetime of the CCSD Class of 2025, which snowball to $14.4 billion for future Clark County School District graduation classes over the next 20 years.” The same trends threaten Northern Nevada. Lower graduation rates mean lower earning power and tax contributions, increased demand for social services, and greater risk for crime.
Nevada Solutions Need Local Community and Legislative Action
At
Strengthen our Community
, we, along with our community partners, have identified 15 actionable items to reduce barriers to attendance, specifically tailored to Washoe County and Clark County. Among the approaches showing the most promise, our top four priorities are:- To have a site coordinator or engagement specialist in every middle school to assist individual students and help them overcome their barriers to attendance.
- To fund seven Family Resource Centers (FRCs) for next year and prevent three from closing this year. FRSs provide frontline, immediate relief to families facing financial difficulties.
- Implement a telehealth program offered through the schools, providing free physical care to elementary-aged students and free mental and physical care to middle school-aged youth (approximately 40,000 kids).
- Implement a phased-in approach so that by 2029, WCSD has Universal PreK for all 4-year-olds. Currently, we offer the program to only 7% of our population, while the national average is 70%.
As I stated, “Without education, our children’s economic lives are at great risk, and ultimately that drives into other problems between crime and drugs and all the other issues that are associated with the inability to basically pay your rent and feed your family.”
Legislative Leadership is Critical for Nevada’s Future
While we are actively fundraising $4.2 million to support our first priority stated above, real reform requires stronger statewide commitments.
“Right now, our state doesn’t appreciate the importance of educating our kids. The permanent solution is our Legislature stepping up and saying, ‘This is something we think is important, and we’re going to do it.’” – Rocio Hernandez’s May 5, 2025, article for The Nevada Independent, “Analysis: Chronically absent students could cost Southern Nevada billions if left unaddressed.”
Lasting change can only occur when our state government prioritizes consistent, equitable school funding and policy.
Take Action
We need your help as we work to meet our goals. Fill out the form on our website to get connected.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Mike Kazmierski is the executive director of Strengthen our Community.
