At Washoe Inspire Academy in Reno, 94.6% of the 130 enrolled students were chronically absent in 2024-25. At Beacon Academy of Nevada, a charter school in Las Vegas, the figure was 87.2% among 743 students. At Ruby S. Thomas Elementary, a neighborhood school in Clark County, 82.8% of 624 students crossed the threshold. These are not fringe programs. Beacon has more than 700 students. Ruby S. Thomas is a traditional public elementary school.

Seventy Nevada schools had chronic absenteeism rates above 50% in 2024-25, meaning at each of these schools, more students missed 10% or more of the year than did not. That is up from 51 the year before, a 37% increase that reversed three years of progress from the 2021-22 peak of 107 schools.

The trajectory

Before COVID, 18 schools crossed the 50% threshold -- 3% of all Nevada schools. By 2020-21, the count exploded to 98. It peaked at 107 in 2021-22, then fell steadily: 79 in 2022-23, 51 in 2023-24. The 2024-25 reversal to 70 breaks that downward trend and means one in ten Nevada schools now has a majority-absent student body.

The 2025 count is still well below the pandemic peak, but the direction matters more than the level. A count that should have fallen to perhaps 40 instead jumped to 70. Whatever was driving improvement in 2022-23 and 2023-24 stopped working, or stopped being sufficient.

Where the schools are

Clark CountyET accounts for 38 of the 70 majority-absent schools, slightly more than half. That tracks roughly with Clark's 53% share of all Nevada schools, meaning the concentration is not disproportionate -- the problem spans the state.

Charter schools under the State Public Charter School Authority contribute 9 of the 70, including Beacon Academy (87.2%, 743 students), Southern Nevada Trades High School (84.3%, 83 students), and Young Women's Leadership Academy (79.4%, 141 students). Washoe CountyET has 8, led by Washoe Inspire Academy at 94.6%.

Rural districts round out the list: Elko CountyET and Lyon CountyET each have 3, Douglas CountyET and Esmeralda CountyET each have 2, and five other districts have 1 each. Twelve of 18 districts have at least one majority-absent school.

The worst of the worst

The 15 schools with the highest chronic rates paint a diverse picture. Some are alternative programs designed for students who have already struggled with attendance: Miley Achievement Center (91.6%, 12 students), Mission High School (83.3%, 18 students), Steptoe Valley High School (82.6%, 23 students). Others are online schools where engagement is notoriously difficult to track: Nevada Learning Academy at CCSD (74.3%, 3,204 students), Douglas Nevada Online (80%, 20 students).

But several are traditional brick-and-mortar schools with substantial enrollments. Ruby S. Thomas Elementary (82.8%, 624 students) is a neighborhood school. Beacon Academy (87.2%, 743 students) is a full-size charter. Pioneer Academy in Carson City (76.4%, 195 students) and Eagle Charter School (77.6%, 170 students) are midsized schools where three-quarters or more of students are chronically absent.

What majority-absent means

When more than half the students at a school are chronically absent, the school is no longer functioning as designed. Instruction becomes remediation. Teachers cannot build on prior lessons when different students are present each day. Social bonds fray when classmates are unpredictable. The school culture shifts from attendance-as-default to attendance-as-optional.

For a teacher at Ruby S. Thomas, planning a fifth-grade math sequence means knowing that on any given day, a significant fraction of the class has missed the last lesson. For a principal at Beacon Academy, managing 743 students of whom 87% are chronically absent means the school's attendance infrastructure dominates every other function.

The 70-school count also understates the broader crisis. Another 267 schools have chronic rates between 30% and 50%, meaning nearly one-third of students are chronically absent without crossing the majority threshold. Combined, 337 schools -- 49.2% of all Nevada schools -- have chronic rates above 30%.

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