Rochester Improved Attendance Faster Than Minnesota, but Still Led Large Districts in Chronic Absence

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT

The chronic-absence rate in Rochester^↗ fell from 40.7% in the school year ending 2022 to 33.8% in 2023 and 31.8% in 2024. That was an 8.9-percentage-point improvement over two annual transitions.

Minnesota improved too, but by less. The statewide rate moved from 26.2% in 2022 to 22.2% in 2023 and 21.4% in 2024, a 4.8-point decline. Rochester's distance above the state consequently narrowed from 14.5 points to 10.4 points.

The remaining burden was still large. State records counted 5,507 chronically absent students among Rochester's 17,342 students in 2024.

The gap narrowed, not widened

Year	Chronic Rate	Students Absent	Enrollment	Gap from State
2021-22	40.7%	7,169	17,617	+14.5 pp
2022-23	33.8%	5,905	17,492	+11.6 pp
2023-24	31.8%	5,507	17,342	+10.4 pp

The three-year comparison matters because it changes the interpretation. Rochester did not lose ground to the state during this period. Its rate fell faster, and the gap narrowed by 4.1 points, even though Rochester remained well above Minnesota overall.

Inside the schools

Rochester's school-level results varied substantially. Mayo High School recorded a 51.5% chronic-absence rate, with 937 of 1,820 students counted as chronically absent. The Rochester Alternative Learning Center recorded 302 chronically absent students among 376 enrolled, an 80.3% rate.

Those records establish where the rates were highest. They do not, on their own, identify why students missed school or whether the same causes operated across schools.

Among large-district peers

Rochester's 31.8% rate was the highest among the 14 large Minnesota districts in the analysis's defined comparison group. Minneapolis was just below Rochester at 31.7%, followed by Osseo^↗ at 27.6% and Saint Paul^↗ at 25.0%.

The size filter makes the comparison consistent, but it does not control for student composition, local conditions, reporting practice, or intervention strategy. The data support a rank within that defined universe, not a causal explanation for it.

What the records do not explain

Unresourced: The state files report counts and enrollment but do not identify the mechanisms behind Rochester's improvement or its still-elevated rate. Transportation, health, housing, school climate, and attendance interventions cannot be separated with these aggregate records.

The verified conclusion is therefore narrower: Rochester improved faster than Minnesota from 2022 through 2024, while its 2024 rate remained the highest in the analysis's large-district comparison group.

Analysis uses chronic-absence and enrollment files from the Minnesota Department of Education, covering school years ending 2022 through 2024. Rates divide published chronic-absence counts by published enrollment totals.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.

Rochester - EdTribune MN - Minnesota Education Data

Rochester Improved Attendance Faster Than Minnesota, but Still Led Large Districts in Chronic Absence

The gap narrowed, not widened

Inside the schools

Among large-district peers

What the records do not explain