EASTON, MARYLAND — Maryland’s statewide chronic absenteeism rate for the 2025-26 school year was 22.8 percent, the Maryland State Department of Education said Sept. 10 — down from 30.9 percent in 2021-22 and the lowest mark since the pandemic.

State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carey M. Wright announced the four-year decline at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School in Baltimore County Public Schools. State Board of Education President Dr. Joshua Michael and BCPS Superintendent Dr. Bill Heiser joined the announcement. Before speaking, they toured the school with First Lady Dawn Moore and State Sen. Charles Sydnor III.

On MSDE’s chart, a student who is chronically absent has missed 10 percent or more of the school year. Wright used a September math example parents can check against a calendar: a child who has already missed two days in September is on track to hit that threshold by June.

MSDE tied the new numbers to a campaign that kicked off in early September for Attendance Awareness Month: Maryland Shows Up. The department said it will launch a state-level recognition program for schools that lower chronic absenteeism, and that the campaign will appear in radio and social media ads, on billboards, and on public transportation.

With national partner Attendance Works, MSDE said it has set up a State Attendance Task Force, sent toolkits to school systems, reviewed school climate data, backed student mental health supports, and looked at community-schools strategies that other systems might copy.

“Maryland schools, families and students deserve credit for ‘showing up’ to address barriers to attendance,” Wright said. “A child who has missed just two days of school in September is on track to be chronically absent by June. As we saw from our recent state assessment results, schools with lower rates of chronic absenteeism tend to show better academic performance. Each one of us plays an important role in setting up every student, every day, for future success by helping them to show up to school — on time and ready to learn.”

“Maryland Shows Up is about more than attendance. It’s about the habit we’re building in our children—and the commitment we’re making to them,” Michael said. “As parents, we can reinforce this message every morning: Your presence matters. Your education matters. What you do today matters. That’s our challenge to every student, every family, and every community across our state: Maryland Shows Up.”

Heiser said BCPS is joining the state initiative and will work to remove barriers that keep students from showing up ready to learn. First Lady Moore said the administration will keep supporting efforts that help students become better learners and that highlight educators.

The Sept. 10 release also pointed to education items in the governor’s FY27 budget, including more than $480 million to modernize aging school facilities and an expansion of the Grow Your Own program for educator career pathways. Those figures are as stated in the MSDE release; they are statewide budget lines, not Talbot County allotments.

Talbot County Public Schools’ own chronic absenteeism rate is not in the Sept. 10 statewide release. Families looking for system-level detail can start with MSDE’s Maryland School Report Card resources linked from marylandpublicschools.org.