The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently released information on how many students attended school and how much school they missed in Wisconsin's public and public charter schools in 2022-2023. DPI also released enrollment data for this school year, 2023-2024.
The data showed that Wisconsin kids missed less school in 2022-23 than they did in 2021-22. However, absenteeism and attendance haven't yet improved to the levels they were in the 2018-19 school year, before the pandemic.
The average statewide attendance rate in 2022-23 was about 92%, and chronic absenteeism — defined as missing more than 10% of school days in a year — was about 20%. That's a slight improvement from the 91% attendance rate and the 23% absenteeism rate in 2021-22. But in 2018-2019, those statewide numbers were 94% and 13%, respectively.
Dropouts improved slightly statewide from 1.6% in 2021-22 to 1.4% in 2022-23. Dropout rates for most of the five major Fox Cities school districts remained steady at below 1% over that same time.
As for enrollment, Wisconsin public and public charter schools have steadily lost a small number of students over the past five years. In 2023-24, public and public charter school enrollment dropped by 1.1%, or about 8,800 students statewide. While the number of students in all three of Wisconsin's parental choice programs increased by about 4% from last school year to this school year, that doesn't account for all public school enrollment losses; all three of the choice programs gained about 3,300 students total.
Across the state, public and public charter school enrollment is 814,002. Wisconsin, Racine and Milwaukee Parental School Choice program enrollment is 92,492, according to DPI.
Here's the attendance and absenteeism numbers for five major public school districts in the Fox Cities
Appleton Area School District: The district's attendance rate improved in 2022-23 to 93% from 91% in 2021-22. Absenteeism fell to 17% from 26% over the same time period. Dropouts also improved, from 2% to 1%. The 2018-19 attendance and absenteeism rates were 95% and 7%, respectively.
Neenah Joint School District: The district's attendance rate stayed level at 93% in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years. Absenteeism rose to about 15% from 14%. The 2018-19 attendance and absenteeism rates were 95% and 10%, respectively.
Menasha Joint School District: The district's attendance rate improved in 2022-23 to 93% from 92% in 2021-22. Absenteeism rose to 22% from about 20% over the same time period. The 2018-19 attendance and absenteeism rates were 94% and 13%, respectively.
Kimberly Area School District: The district's attendance rate stayed level at 95% in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years. Absenteeism fell to 8% from 9% over the same time period. The 2018-19 attendance and absenteeism rates were 96% and 4%, respectively.
Kaukauna Area School District: The district's attendance rate improved in 2022-23 to 94% from 93% in 2021-22. Absenteeism fell to 11% from about 14% over the same time period. The 2018-19 attendance and absenteeism rates were 96% and 6%, respectively.
Most Fox Valley-area districts see slight decline in public and public charter school enrollment, mixed results on choice programs
Appleton Area School District: The district's total enrollment is 15,230; the district lost 40 net students for a loss of about 0.3%. Choice program enrollment in Appleton-area private schools saw a slight decrease from 3,095 students to 3,077.
Neenah Joint School District: The district's total enrollment is 6,497; the district lost 30 net students for a loss of about 0.5%. Choice program enrollment in Neenah-area private schools saw a slight increase from 1,123 to 1,134 students.
Menasha Joint School District: The district's total enrollment is 3,178; the district gained 18 net students for a gain of about 0.4%. Choice program enrollment in Menasha-area private schools saw a slight increase from 101 to 108.
Kimberly Area School District: The district's total enrollment is 5,058; the district lost 74 net students for a loss of about 1.4%. No Kimberly-area private schools are enrolled in a choice program.
Kaukauna Area School District: The district's total enrollment is 4,046; the district lost 11 net students for a loss of 0.3%. Choice program enrollment in Kaukauna-area private schools saw a slight decrease. from 257 to 250.
Where can I find attendance and enrollment information about another school district?
Public school data is available onWISEdash, a website run by the state Department of Public Instruction. You can filter the data by demographics, district, school or school year.
More:Appleton students are still struggling with attendance. Mental health is a main reason, but not the only one
Rebecca Loroff is an education reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. Contact her with story tips and feedback at 920-907-7801 or rloroff@gannett.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @RebeccaLoroff.
