Most Franklin County school districts saw attendance gains in 2025-26 academic year

Most of the 11 public school districts and supervisory unions in Franklin County saw students in class a little more often in the 2025-26 school year than the year before. According to data from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, only two local districts, Hawlemont and Ralph C. Mahar, saw attendance rates drop. However, the changes were minor, and all 11 public school districts and supervisory unions are within two percentage points of the state average attendance rate of 93.6%. The data also highlights rates of chronic absenteeism. For a student to be considered chronically absent, they must miss more than 10% of school days. For a traditional 180-day school year, that equates to 18 days of school. Statewide, the average rate of chronically absent students is 17.1%. A narrow majority of local school districts have worse rates of chronic absenteeism than the state average, but show improvement from 2025-26.

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