Absenteeism Remains High as CAHS Averages 67 Absent Daily, CHS 75; “We Have a Big Problem,” Commissioner Says

The V.I. Department of Education (VIDE) is making an impassioned plea to lawmakers, parents, and the wider community to address chronic absenteeism in the territory’s schools.

It is not the first time that Education Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington has raised this issue before the Legislature. She promised a crackdown on truancy in 2024, while the following year lawmakers urged the Department of Education to treat chronic absenteeism as child neglect. Last November’s Kid’s Count report showed that the rate of absenteeism across the territory has fallen, but at 23% overall and still worryingly high on St. Croix, the situation seems to have reached a boiling point for the commissioner.

Attendance summaries reveal a “troubling trend of increasing daily absences across both districts” in the last school year. “We have a big problem,” Commissioner Wells-Hedrington declared. On an average day, 67 students are absent from the Charlotte Amalie High School, while 75 are absent from the St. Croix Central High School on an average day. Elementary school numbers are also troubling. On average, 42 students are absent from the Bertha C. Boschulte School daily.

Missing “critical days of instruction” is widening the performance gap, Wells-Hedrington said.

She informed the Committee on Education and Workforce Development that there are instances where families “plan cruises during the school year” or take other off-island trips. VIDE is also aware of instances where students express not wanting to attend school and “the parents are flexible enough to say stay home.”