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Senate education panel hears research and district strategies as chronic absenteeism rises in Florida
Summary
University and district witnesses told the Senate Committee on Education that chronic absenteeism has risen since the pandemic, with Floridawide rates near one-third of students under the 10% definition; Collier and Volusia counties described data-driven interventions, attendance specialists and community partnerships to reengage students. No formal legislation was voted on.
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate Committee on Education (PreK–12) spent its hearing reviewing data and district practices to address rising chronic absenteeism, with researchers and school officials recommending early-warning systems, community partnerships and more staffing rather than relying first on punitive enforcement.
Dr. Chris Curran, a University of Florida professor who directs the US Education Policy Research Center, told senators that chronic absenteeism is commonly measured as missing 10% of the school year — about 18 days in a 180-day calendar — and that Florida’s most recent state data for 2023–24 show roughly 31.4% of students meet that threshold. "Chronic absenteeism typically is thought of as missing 10% of the school year or about 18 days," Curran said, illustrating the point with a composite student he called "Missy." He said scattered, excused-looking absences can still place a pupil on a trajectory toward chronic absence.
Curran described drivers including transportation barriers, mental-health concerns and lingering pandemic-era norms about staying home when ill, and urged districts to use data-driven early-warning systems and low-cost nudges such as text messages or phone calls to parents. He cited mentoring programs — ‘‘Check & Connect’’ among them — and multi-tiered supports that range from whole-school outreach to targeted interventions for those most at-risk.
Collier County Superintendent Leslie Ricardelli told the committee that Collier’s student population includes a high share of migrant students, English-language learners and families receiving free or reduced-price lunch, and that the district prioritized attendance staffing and home outreach. Ricardelli said Collier’s 2023–24 Department of Education data reported about 9% of students as chronically absent; the district relies on three attendance specialists who make home visits, multilingual communications and an extensive documentation process before cases reach truancy court.
"Initiating contact with those parents, showing up at those homes," Ricardelli said, "that's the most critical part to this." She described a six-month escalation of letters, calls and visits before a truancy-court referral, and urged tighter coordination with the Department of Children and Families so case managers can work side-by-side with district staff.
Mike McAuliffe, Volusia County Schools’ executive director for graduation assurance and student services, said Volusia built a central dashboard and an "early and often" notification system. "We actually send automated letters at day 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14," McAuliffe told senators, and the district moved notification timing to mornings so parents can act the same day. He described community partnerships that provided bikes and washers/dryers to remove practical barriers to attendance and said Volusia’s 2023–24 rate was about 34% with recent first-quarter reporting showing substantial improvement after the district’s interventions.
Committee members asked about several technical details: whether exclusionary discipline counts toward absenteeism (districts typically include suspensions in their counts), how districts measure a "day" of attendance (some districts count as few as two hours), and what role law enforcement and truancy officials should play. Curran cautioned that while enforcement is a tool, evidence supports addressing root causes and providing supports first for many students.
Senators also raised scalability and funding questions for larger districts. Ricardelli and McAuliffe said the approaches they described require prioritizing attendance in district budgets, investing in attendance specialists and using technology to automate early outreach — strategies they argued are cost-effective compared with the long-term costs of missed instruction.
The committee did not take formal votes on bills during the hearing. Chair Simon thanked the presenters and the meeting was adjourned after Senator Berman moved to adjourn.
The record of the hearing includes references to Florida attendance law and district practices; committee staff provided district materials and flowcharts to senators at the hearing.
