There appear to be widespread problems with the tracking of truant students at Chicago Public Schools, according to an inspector general report released Thursday that said chronic absenteeism is likely being masked by some administrators aiming to make their schools look better.
The misreporting of truant students as missing, dropouts or outgoing transfers in many cases means schools didn’t properly check on children’s whereabouts and attempt to re-engage them with their classes as required, the report said. The investigation looked at issues prior to the pandemic but the practice likely worsened when schools closed and, by some estimates, CPS needed to reconnect with up to 100,000 children who weren’t regularly engaged with school.
