The state's education commissioner delivered her annual back-to-school address to district superintendents on Monday, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement such as chronic absenteeism.
Nearly a fifth of high school seniors in Connecticut were chronically absent last year. That means the students missed 18 or more days of school.
And, across the state, nearly 56,000 kids met this threshold in 2015.
Education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell said the answer is for schools to look for red flags early.
"Look at your kids that are showing you early warning signs that they might not hang in there with you until 12th grade," Wentzell said, speaking to a crowd of superintendents and other education officials at the A.I. Prince Technical High School in Hartford.
She suggested that district leaders watch students in elementary school to see if they're missing lots of days already, if they've failed two or more classes, or if they've been suspended from school at least twice.
If a student is flagged, Wentzell said schools should act early to prevent problems from growing worse in high school, which could lead to a student dropping out.
"Anyone who's taught high school, or middle school, or lived with high schoolers or middle schoolers knows it's not just putting them on the bus in the morning anymore, or walking them to school, right?" Wentzell said. "They have a lot more agency as they get older. If they're not buying what we're selling, they're going to go elsewhere."
Students of color are chronically absent almost twice as often as white students. This is one of several gaps that the state is trying to close.
Connecticut has made some progress: chronic absenteeism has dropped by about a percent since 2011 among all students.
Education officials urge districts to analyze data, work with parents, and partner with the broader community to help keep kids in school.
