Chronic Absence in Denver-Area Schools, 2018-19 to 2025-26
Key finding
In the 2025-26 school year, 36.6% of Denver Public Schools students missed 10% or more of their enrolled school days, compared with 27.5% of students statewide. That is down from a peak of 43.2% in 2021-22, but it still means more than one in three DPS students was chronically absent.
Key numbers on chronic absence
- 36.6%of Denver Public Schools K-12 students were chronically absent in 2025-26 (31,994 of 87,533).Colorado Department of Education (CDE), 2025-26 attendance data
- 27.5%of Colorado students statewide in 2025-26, still 5.0 points above the 22.5% of 2018-19.CDE, 2018-19 and 2025-26 files
- 48.5%of DPS 12th graders were chronically absent in 2025-26, against 41.0% of 12th graders statewide.CDE, 2025-26 chronic absence by grade
- 38.5%Aurora Public Schools, the highest rate of the six districts in 2025-26. Douglas County School District had the lowest, 15.2%.CDE, 2025-26 attendance data
- 6.6 pointsfall in the DPS rate since its 2021-22 peak of 43.2%.CDE, 2021-22 and 2025-26 files
Sorted by the 2025-26 rate. Source: Colorado Department of Education district attendance files. 2018-19 used an older collection method; see Limits.
| District | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Public Schools | 39.8% | 29.0% | 29.8% | 43.2% | 41.1% | 37.1% | 38.1% | 36.6% |
| Aurora Public Schools | 24.6% | 24.8% | 34.0% | 43.5% | 43.3% | 40.1% | 38.9% | 38.5% |
| Jeffco Public Schools | 25.1% | 24.1% | 30.4% | 38.0% | 28.3% | 25.3% | 26.6% | 26.2% |
| Cherry Creek School District | 25.3% | 18.4% | 17.7% | 30.5% | 28.7% | 25.5% | 25.3% | 22.3% |
| Boulder Valley School District | 11.9% | 13.9% | 15.0% | 23.1% | 21.7% | 17.8% | 17.5% | 19.4% |
| Douglas County School District | 12.5% | 20.1% | 16.5% | 20.2% | 19.4% | 17.1% | 16.6% | 15.2% |
| Colorado (statewide) | 22.5% | 22.6% | 26.0% | 35.5% | 31.1% | 27.7% | 28.4% | 27.5% |
Chronically absent = missed 10% or more of enrolled days, for any reason. 2019-20 ended with school buildings closed in the spring and 2020-21 included remote and hybrid learning, so those two years are not comparable with the others. Source: CDE.
What changed since the pandemic
All six districts are below the rates they reached in 2021-22. Jeffco Public Schools fell the most, 11.8 points, from 38.0% to 26.2%. Denver Public Schools fell 6.6 points, from 43.2% to 36.6%.
Compared with 2018-19, the last school year before the pandemic, the statewide rate is still 5.0 points higher. Four of the six districts are also above their 2018-19 rates: Aurora (13.9 points higher), Boulder Valley (7.5 points higher), Douglas County (2.7 points higher) and Jeffco (1.1 points higher). Denver (3.2 points lower) and Cherry Creek (3.0 points lower) are below. CDE changed how it collected attendance after 2018-19, so treat differences of a few points against that year with care.
In the most recent year, five of the six districts improved. Boulder Valley School District went the other way, from 17.5% to 19.4%.
Absence rises through high school
Chronic absence follows the same shape in every district: higher in kindergarten, lowest in the elementary grades, then rising through middle and high school. Statewide, 21.3% of 3rd graders were chronically absent in 2025-26, against 41.0% of 12th graders. In Denver Public Schools the rate went from 29.5% in 5th grade to 45.7% in 9th grade and 48.5% in 12th grade. In all six districts and statewide, 12th grade had the highest rate.
| Grade | Denver | Aurora | Jeffco | Cherry Creek | Boulder Valley | Douglas County | Colorado |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K | 37.5% | 40.2% | 21.9% | 22.1% | 19.3% | 13.7% | 27.7% |
| 1st | 32.7% | 36.6% | 19.1% | 18.8% | 18.7% | 11.1% | 23.7% |
| 2nd | 31.2% | 33.5% | 17.2% | 17.0% | 15.2% | 10.1% | 21.9% |
| 3rd | 30.0% | 31.9% | 18.8% | 16.8% | 14.6% | 10.9% | 21.3% |
| 4th | 29.6% | 30.7% | 17.7% | 16.3% | 15.4% | 10.9% | 21.5% |
| 5th | 29.5% | 30.9% | 19.6% | 16.0% | 16.0% | 12.0% | 21.6% |
| 6th | 31.4% | 31.6% | 23.4% | 21.3% | 15.6% | 13.8% | 24.2% |
| 7th | 35.9% | 35.0% | 25.6% | 22.5% | 18.9% | 15.9% | 27.1% |
| 8th | 36.3% | 37.3% | 30.7% | 26.7% | 22.1% | 21.6% | 29.9% |
| 9th | 45.7% | 41.5% | 29.2% | 21.6% | 18.7% | 13.5% | 29.6% |
| 10th | 44.0% | 46.9% | 30.8% | 24.6% | 20.1% | 16.9% | 31.8% |
| 11th | 45.1% | 52.4% | 36.1% | 27.7% | 21.4% | 18.5% | 34.5% |
| 12th | 48.5% | 57.7% | 45.3% | 34.5% | 31.4% | 27.7% | 41.0% |
Source: CDE 2025-26 chronic absenteeism by grade (district file) and state workbook.
Chronic absence is not the same as school refusal
Chronic absence counts every missed day, for any reason: illness, appointments, family trips, suspensions, and excused and unexcused absences alike. CDE’s data does not record why a student was absent, so these figures cannot tell us how many absences come from anxiety or distress about school.
School refusal is narrower: a child or teen who becomes very upset about going to school and struggles to attend. Some chronically absent students are dealing with it, and many are not. Our article on school refusal vs. truancy explains the difference.
What this means for Denver-area parents
- You are far from alone. In Denver Public Schools, more than one in three students missed 10% or more of school days in 2025-26. A pattern of missed days is common, and it is worth talking about early and without blame.
- Excused days count too. Chronic absence includes excused absences, so a child can be chronically absent without ever being truant. A simple record of missed days and the reason for each helps you and the school see a pattern.
- Watch the school transitions. Rates climb through middle and high school; in Denver Public Schools, 45.7% of 9th graders were chronically absent in 2025-26. A move to a new school is a good time to check in about how mornings are going.
- If worry or dread is behind the missed days, help is available. A school counselor, your child’s doctor or a therapist can help sort out what is going on. Our school refusal resource center has articles on talking with the school and planning a gradual return.
Method
- Data: CDE’s district attendance files for each school year from 2018-19 to 2025-26, downloaded on November 12, 2026. District totals are as CDE publishes them; schools authorized by the Charter School Institute report separately and are not in any district’s figures.
- Definition: CDE counts a student as chronically absent when they miss 10% or more of the days they were enrolled, whether the absences are excused or unexcused. Rates are CDE’s own, shown to one decimal place; our script recomputes each one from CDE’s student counts and stops if they disagree.
- Districts: Denver Public Schools (CDE name: Denver County 1), Aurora Public Schools (Adams-Arapahoe 28J), Jeffco Public Schools (Jefferson County R-1), Cherry Creek School District (Cherry Creek 5), Boulder Valley School District (Boulder Valley Re 2) and Douglas County School District (Douglas County Re 1). Together they had 337,236 K-12 students in 2025-26, 39.8% of the state total. Other metro districts, such as Adams 12 Five Star, are in CDE’s statewide files.
- Grades: grade-level rates are for 2025-26, from the same CDE district file and CDE’s 2025-26 state workbook.
- Changes are in percentage points between CDE’s rounded rates. Before publishing, a separate script re-checked the 2025-26 figures against each district’s CDE SchoolView page and CDE’s 2025-26 state summary.
Limits
- Until 2018-19, CDE collected attendance as school-level totals and used fall enrollment as the denominator; from 2019-20 it has collected student-level records. The 2018-19 file also lists one reporting unit with more chronically absent students than enrolled students. Small differences against 2018-19 may reflect the change in method.
- 2019-20 ended with school buildings closed in the spring, and 2020-21 included remote and hybrid learning, so those years are not comparable with the others.
- From 2022-23, CDE removed preschool students from the denominator. CDE’s own 2025-26 summary chart shows 34.5% statewide for 2021-22, a little below the 35.5% in its 2021-22 district file, which we use here so the state and district figures match.
- Chronic absence is an attendance measure. It says nothing on its own about any student’s health, and it is not a measure of mental health.
Cite this study
Suggested citation:
Mountainside Behavioral Health. (2026). Chronic Absence in Denver-Area Schools, 2018-19 to 2025-26. https://mountainsidebh.com/research/denver-chronic-absenteeism/Download the data (CSV). The data behind this page is free to reuse, including commercially, with credit to Mountainside Behavioral Health and a link to this page (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (opens in a new tab)).
Sources
- Colorado Department of Education, Attendance and Truancy Statistics (2025-26 district and state workbooks; State Attendance Summary, August 2026) (opens in a new tab): 2025-26 school year.
- Colorado Department of Education, Attendance data: insights, resources and archives (chronic absenteeism by district) (opens in a new tab): 2019-20 to 2024-25 school years.
- Colorado Department of Education, 2018-19 chronic absenteeism by district (CDE file, archived copy at the Internet Archive) (opens in a new tab): 2018-19 school year.
- Colorado Department of Education, SchoolView district attendance pages (used to re-check figures) (opens in a new tab): 2025-26 school year.
Worried about school mornings?
Mountainside Behavioral Health works with children, teens and parents on school refusal and school avoidance, in Greenwood Village or by telehealth across Colorado. A free consultation is a chance to ask questions and see whether the fit is right.
Research pages describe whole populations from public data. They are general information, not medical advice, a diagnosis or a treatment plan, and they do not create a therapist-client relationship. Figures checked against the sources above on November 12, 2026.