Before the pandemic, Pacific Islander students in California were chronically absent at a rate of 19.5%. White students were at 9.2%. The gap was 10.3 percentage points -- significant but smaller than the Black-white gap and less discussed in policy circles.

Six years later, Pacific Islander students are at 31.3%. White students are at 15.1%. The gap has grown to 16.2 points, the largest expansion of any racial group. COVID did not create racial attendance inequity in California. It amplified every existing fracture and left behind gaps that three years of recovery have barely narrowed.

The gaps that COVID widened

Every racial gap in chronic absenteeism -- measured against white students -- is wider in 2024-25 than it was in 2018-19. The widening was not marginal.

Pacific Islanders saw the largest gap expansion: +5.9 percentage points (from 10.3 to 16.2). Native American students are close behind at +4.6 points (from 11.9 to 16.5). The Hispanic-white gap nearly doubled, from 3.5 to 7.2 points. The Black-white gap grew 3.6 points, from 12.6 to 16.2.

The pattern is consistent: groups that were furthest behind before the pandemic fell further behind during it and have recovered more slowly afterward. This is not a story of one group's exceptional decline. It is a story of structural inequity becoming more entrenched.

One in three Black, Native American, and Pacific Islander students

The current numbers converge on a disturbing threshold. Black students: 31.3% chronically absent. Native American students: 31.6%. Pacific Islander students: 31.3%. Three groups, three different histories in California, and all landing at essentially the same rate -- roughly one in three.

Asian students remain the lowest at 8.0%, barely above their pre-COVID rate of 3.6%. Filipino students are at 12.9%. White students at 15.1% have recovered less than half of their COVID-era increase (they peaked at 22.3% in 2022).

Hispanic students, at 22.3%, carry the greatest absolute burden. They are the largest student group in California at roughly 55% of enrollment, and their 22.3% chronic rate means more Hispanic students are chronically absent than students of all other races combined.

The Black-white gap

The Black-white chronic absenteeism gap tells a particularly clear story of pre-existing inequity made worse by crisis.

The gap was already widening before COVID: 9.3 points in 2017, 10.4 in 2018, 12.6 in 2019. The pandemic accelerated the trend to 19.3 points in 2022. Three years of recovery brought it to 16.2 points -- narrower than the peak but still 3.6 points wider than pre-COVID.

The narrowing happened not because Black chronic absenteeism improved dramatically, but because white chronic absenteeism plateaued. Black students went from 31.7% in 2019 to 31.3% in 2025 -- functionally unchanged after a massive round trip through 49.8% at the peak. White students went from 9.2% to 15.1%, settling at a much higher baseline than before.

Why the gaps persist

The persistence of racial attendance gaps despite three years of statewide improvement points to differential exposure to the underlying drivers of chronic absenteeism.

Housing instability affects Black, Native American, and Pacific Islander families at higher rates. California's homeownership rate for Black residents is 37%, compared to 63% for white residents. Families without stable housing change schools more frequently, and school transitions are a known driver of chronic absenteeism.

Transportation barriers compound the problem. California ranks last nationally in school bus access, with fewer than 9% of students riding a bus compared to 55% nationally. Families without reliable personal transportation face the choice between late arrival and absence.

Mental health access varies sharply by race. A 2024 UCLA study found that Black and Latino adolescents in California were less than half as likely as white adolescents to receive mental health services, despite reporting higher rates of anxiety and depression.

What narrowing would require

Closing the gaps to pre-COVID levels would require Black, Native American, and Pacific Islander chronic rates to fall 4-6 percentage points faster than white rates -- a differential improvement that no statewide intervention has produced to date.

California's community schools initiative and attendance recovery programs are race-neutral in design. They may reduce overall rates without narrowing gaps. A tide that lifts all boats still leaves some lower in the water than others. The pre-pandemic gaps took decades to build. COVID widened them in two years. Three years of recovery have not narrowed them. At some point, the gaps stop being a consequence of the crisis and become the crisis itself.

Data source

Analysis based on chronic absenteeism data from the California Department of Education DataQuest, school years 2016-17 through 2024-25. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of enrolled school days.

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