Absence
Missouri's FRL Chronic Absenteeism Gap Reached 8.6 Points in 2024-25
Missouri's FRL chronic absenteeism gap was 8.6 percentage points in 2024-25, up from 4.7 points in 2014-15, after a 10.4-point peak in 2021-22.
Missouri
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Missouri, grounded in Missouri Department of Education data.
Gordon Parks Reported Three Annual Declines in Chronic Absence
Gordon Parks' chronic absence declined across three annual transitions. Named district examples show other endpoint improvements, with complete reported histories and explicit limits.
195 Missouri Reports Stayed Below the State's Absence Rate. Most Still Worsened.
A complete attendance comparison finds sustained relative differences, but most qualifying district-level reports ended above their own earlier rates.
Missouri Charter LEAs' Chronic Absence Rates Spanned 70.1 Points in 2024-25
Missouri's 37 charter LEAs reported chronic absence rates from 0.0% to 70.1% in 2024-25, with a median of 41.3% against 15.2% for school districts.
St. Joseph Followed Four Annual Declines With a 14.5-Point Graduation-Rate Jump
St. Joseph's graduation rate fell from 83.0% to 77.0% across four annual declines, then rose 14.5 points in 2024 and reached 92.2% in 2025.
More Coverage
Absence
Missouri's Suburban Attendance Rates Remain Above Pre-COVID Levels
Four Missouri suburban districts remained above their 2018-19 chronic-absence rates in 2024-25; North Kansas City 74 and Pattonville also worsened over the latest two-year comparison.
Absence
Eleven Missouri Districts Where At Least Half of Students Were Chronically Absent
Eleven of 557 Missouri districts had chronic absenteeism at or above 50% in 2024-25, ranging from 50.4% in Normandy to 70.1% at Kairos Academies.
Demographics
Three Thousand More Students in Missouri's Graduation Pipeline
Missouri's graduating class grew by 3,048 students since 2019 while the graduation rate rose, producing nearly 4,000 additional on-time graduates per year.
Absence
St. Louis City and Kansas City Both Remained Above 50% Chronic Absence
St. Louis City and Kansas City 33 each reported chronic-absence rates above 50% for a second consecutive year in 2024-25.
Absence
Six St. Louis-Area Districts Improved. Eight Still Exceed 39% Chronic Absence
Six high-absence St. Louis-area districts improved after 2021-22, but eight still reported rates from 39.6% to 57.1% in 2024-25.
Equity
A 26-Point Graduation Gap Separates Normandy and Clayton
Normandy graduated 73.3 percent of its 2025 cohort on time, 26.2 percentage points below Clayton's rate.
District Spotlight
University City's Quiet Turnaround: 76 Percent to 94 Percent in Three Years
University City rose from a 75.8 percent graduation rate in 2022 to 94.3 percent in 2025, the largest gain among Missouri districts with 100+ students in both cohorts.
District Spotlight
Grain Valley's 21-Year Growth Streak Ended. Enrollment Is Still Near Its Peak
Grain Valley reported 4,461 K12 students in preliminary 2025-26, six below its observed peak. Its 21 consecutive annual gains were the longest in the complete-record comparison.
Equity
KC Black Students Graduated at a Higher Rate Than St. Louis White Students in 2024-25
Black students in Kansas City 33 graduated at 89.1 percent in Missouri's 2025 four-year cohort, 9.3 points above white students in St. Louis City. The comparison favored St. Louis in 2019.
District Spotlight
Grandview C-4: Six Straight Years of Declining Graduation Rates
Grandview C-4 recorded six consecutive declines in the available four-year graduation-rate data, from 82.7% in 2018-19 to 72.5% in 2024-25.
