EL MONTE — Chronic Absenteeism Declines Across El Monte Union as the district continues making gains in getting students back into classrooms.
The district’s chronic absenteeism rate dropped from 25.2% in 2022-23 to 19.7% in 2024-25, according to data presented to trustees Sept. 2. The 5.5-percentage-point decline represents significant progress over two school years.
The improvement comes as El Monte Union High School District continues developing attendance strategies focused on early intervention, family outreach and student support.
District Posts Strong Attendance Gains
Chronic absenteeism measures the percentage of students who miss at least 10% of their enrolled school days.
In 2022-23, about one-quarter of El Monte Union students met that threshold. By 2024-25, the figure had fallen below 20%.
The district’s overall attendance rate has also moved in a positive direction.
El Monte Union reported a 94.54% attendance rate for 2025-26, compared with 93.47% in 2022-23.
The two measurements tell different parts of the attendance story. Overall attendance measures the percentage of school days attended across students. Chronic absenteeism identifies students who miss a substantial portion of the school year.
Campus data also showed several schools with chronic absenteeism rates below the districtwide figure.
Rosemead High School posted the lowest rate among the five comprehensive high schools at 14.1%. El Monte High School followed at 15.7%, with Arroyo High School at 15.9%.
Chronic Absenteeism Declines Across Campuses
South El Monte High School recorded a 19.8% chronic absenteeism rate. Mountain View High School reported 22.6%, the highest among the five campuses.
The presentation does not identify reasons for differences among schools, and the districtwide rate includes more than the five campus figures.
While the district has made measurable progress, the 19.7% rate means roughly one in five students was still chronically absent in 2024-25.
El Monte Union is targeting that remaining challenge through a coordinated attendance strategy involving school employees and families.
Teachers, counselors, attendance staff and wellness personnel are part of the district’s planned response. Interventions can include parent conferences, home visits, mental health referrals and assistance for students experiencing homelessness.
District Builds On Attendance Progress
The district is also implementing its Attendance Plus software workflow to identify attendance patterns and coordinate follow-up.
Plans include fall and spring attendance campaigns featuring school competitions, celebrations and field trips designed to encourage students to attend consistently.
The presentation does not attribute the improvement to any single program or intervention. Instead, the latest numbers establish a broader trend: more El Monte Union students are regularly making it to school than two years ago.
For the district, the challenge now is building on those gains while reaching students who continue to miss significant classroom time.
The decline in chronic absenteeism gives El Monte Union a measurable sign of progress and a foundation for its next round of attendance efforts across El Monte, South El Monte and Rosemead.
