According to recent reports by the Hawaii Department of Education, one in four students at James Campbell High School in the 2024-2025 school year were chronically absent, missing over 17 days of school, which can significantly affect students’ future success. Administrators are working to address this issue by providing targeted support for struggling students while emphasizing the importance of attendance in long-term success.
The Problem
According to state law and the Hawaii Board of Education policy, chronic absenteeism is defined as missing more than 10 percent of school days or 17 calendar school days per year. This not only includes unexcused absences but also excused absences.
However, chronic absences are more than just a statistic – they have real, long-term effects on students’ future success. Attendance Works, an organization advocating for student attendance, found that if a student is chronically absent, they are more likely to graduate late or drop out entirely.
Lee-Ann Yoshizumi, Freshman Success Academy Principal at JCHS, said, “Regular school attendance is such a critical first step to their long-term success. That them coming to school every day and on time sets them up to be able to do whatever they want to do post high school.”
Context
Every school year, the Hawaii Department of Education publishes data for schools in the Strive HI Performance Report, including rates of chronic absences. According to this report, 25% of students at Campbell High School were chronically absent during the 2024-25 school year, a single percent decrease from 26% in the 2023-24 school year, and no change compared to the 2022-23 school year.
During the 2024-25 school year, Campbell had chronic absence rates generally higher than most other high schools in Hawaii. Campbell’s 25% overall chronic absenteeism rate is higher than the average overall rate for the at 21.7%.
The report also breaks down chronic absenteeism rates into ethnic groups, with Campbell having rates higher than average for most groups except for two groups. Campbell saw a chronic absence rate of 24% for White students and 13% for Hispanic students, 1.7% and 5.7% lower than the overall averages, respectively.
Similar to most schools, the general trend among Campbell students indicates that Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian students have disproportionately higher rates of chronic absenteeism than other groups. The rates were 44% Pacific Islander students and 46% for Native Hawaiian students, compared to 25% for all students.
Causes of Chronic Absenteeism
Students may be chronically absent for a variety of reasons. Students may not attend school because they struggle with their physical health and may have an illness or disability. Other students may have to stay home because they have to stay with their family or have responsibilities at home.
For some students, it may be difficult to attend school because they lack a sense of belonging with their peers or adults at the school. Extracurricular activities like school clubs and sports play a key role in tackling this issue. Yoshizumi said, “We want to provide as many opportunities for students to develop that strong connection to their peers, their school, to extracurricular activities so I think extracurricular activities are wonderful in promoting that extra motivation for some students to come to school.”
For other students, the cause of chronic absenteeism can be a lack of understanding or false beliefs. These students may think that attendance doesn’t affect their plans after graduation. They might feel that missing a few days from time to time won’t significantly affect their learning, leading to some losing count of exactly how many days they were absent.
These are all misconceptions the school refutes. “I hope that students and parents understand the importance of attendance, seeing how it contributes to both academic growth but also social/emotional wellbeing, student self of belonging, giving students a sense of responsibility,” said Yoshizumi. “ We speak to our incoming ninth graders about it, I know we speak to students about it while they’re here at Campbell. We really try to stress the importance of students being in school every day on time.”
Support
Yoshizumi said there are steps the school takes to identify and support students before chronic absenteeism. After five absences, teachers must call a parent or guardian in addition to writing a referral to a school counselor. Once considered chronically absent, more intense support is available.
Because the situation for each student is different, the method of support has to be unique to them. “Identifying the reason why they’re not attending school is really important,” said Yoshizumi. “It’s working with the family and the student to identify the root cause of their absences and then coming up with a support plan that’s targeted to address their cause.”
Yoshizumi said, “I want students to really understand that regular school attendance is such a critical first step to their long-term success. That them coming to school every day and on time sets them up to be able to do whatever they want to do post high school.” She said, “We’re going to support every student and make them feel welcome while they’re at Campbell and give them a positive place to be. We’re here to support and nurture their goals.”
Yoshizumi underlined the importance of the partnership with the wider Ewa Beach community in getting their students to attend school, and said, “We need to all work together to ensure our students’ success, and a big part of that is ensuring our students come to school every day.”