How often do Leander ISD students miss school?

In short

• About 15 of every 100 students were “chronically absent” in 2024-25. That means they missed at least 1 in 10 school days.¹²
• That is down from about 20 of every 100 in 2021-22, and lower than the state (18 of every 100).¹³
• It is still about twice the 2020-21 level, when it was about 7 of every 100. The state rate was also unusually low that year, so it is not a normal starting point.³

How it works

• The state counts two things. The attendance rate is the share of school days students were there. Chronic absence counts students who missed 10% or more of their days.²
• The two can tell different stories. A district can have a high attendance rate while a small group of students misses a lot.²
• The numbers come from the state’s yearly report card, called the TAPR.¹

What the numbers show

School year	Attendance rate	Chronically absent	State, chronically absent
2020-21	97.0%	7.4%	15.0%
2021-22	93.3%	19.9%	25.7%
2022-23	93.7%	17.3%	20.3%
2023-24	93.8%	16.6%	19.0%
2024-25	94.0%	15.4%	18.0%

Source: Texas Education Agency, TAPR reports for Leander ISD.¹³

• Some groups miss more school. In 2024-25, about 28 of every 100 students from low-income families were chronically absent. So were about 22 of every 100 students in special education.¹

The other side

• 2020-21 was not a normal year. Many students learned from home, and attendance was counted in new ways. It is not a fair starting point.³
• The report does not say why students were absent. It counts days missed, not reasons.
• Chronic absence has dropped each year since 2021-22.¹³
• Leander ISD had lower chronic absence than the state in every year shown. In 2024-25 its attendance was also a little higher: 94.0% versus 93.9%.¹³

Questions to ask

• Where does the district post absence rates by school?
• How does the district explain the gaps in absence between student groups?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: We changed wording so it says no more than our sources show.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We checked every figure against its source. We reworded the other-side points so they stick to what the sources show.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We stopped calling 2020-21 a year before COVID. It was a COVID year.

What you can do or watch next

• See who the students are for more about the district’s students.
• Watch for the 2025-26 report from the state, likely late next year.

What we still don’t know

• Absence by school. This page uses district totals only.
• Why some groups miss more school. The state report does not say.

Footnotes

1. Texas Education Agency, 2024-25 Texas Academic Performance Report, Leander ISD (246913), “Attendance, Graduation, and Dropout Rates”: attendance rate 2024-25 94.0% (state 93.9%); chronic absenteeism 2024-25 15.4% (state 18.0%), 2023-24 16.6% (state 19.0%); economically disadvantaged 27.9%; special education 22.0%. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Texas Education Agency, 2024-25 TAPR Glossary, “Attendance Rate” (grades 1–12, share of days present) and “Chronic Absenteeism” (K–12 students enrolled at least 10 days and absent 10 percent or more of days). ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Same reports for earlier years (2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 TAPR): attendance rate 2020-21 97.0%, 2021-22 93.3%, 2022-23 93.7%, 2023-24 93.8%; chronic absenteeism (district, state) 2020-21 7.4%, 15.0%; 2021-22 19.9%, 25.7%; 2022-23 17.3%, 20.3%. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶