106 Arizona Districts Improved Chronic Absenteeism Three Years Running

Thu, 21 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Arizona's statewide chronic absenteeism picture is grim: recovery has stalled, gaps have widened, and nearly one in four students still misses too much school. But behind the state average, 106 districts have been getting better every single year since 2022-23.

These are districts where the chronic rate dropped in 2023, dropped again in 2024, and dropped again in 2025. Three consecutive years of improvement, while the state's overall pace of recovery ground nearly to a halt.

The Biggest Turnarounds

The most dramatic improvements came from districts that started in crisis:

Fort Thomas Unified, a small rural district in southeastern Arizona, cut its chronic rate by 45.1 percentage points over three years. Murphy Elementary dropped 39.4 points. Valentine Elementary dropped 36.5 points.

These are transformative changes. A district that went from 60%+ chronic absenteeism to below 20% has fundamentally altered the daily experience of its students.

Tuba City: The Signature Story

The most significant improvement streak belongs to Tuba City Unified, a Navajo Nation district that went from 57.2% in 2022 to 27.9% in 2025.

What makes Tuba City's trajectory so important is context. This is a reservation district facing the same structural barriers (geographic isolation, poverty, limited transportation, intergenerational trauma) that keep neighboring districts above 40%, 50%, even 60%. Yet Tuba City improved steadily, roughly 10 points per year, until it crossed below the state average.

Other reservation districts have not followed. Peach Springs held steady above 62%. San Carlos dropped from 75.7% to 52.5% before spiking back to 61.7%. Whatever Tuba City did differently offers a potential model for communities facing similar challenges.

Traditional Districts Too

The improvement streaks are not limited to small districts coming down from extreme levels. Large traditional districts in the Phoenix and Tucson metros show sustained progress:

Peoria Unified: 37.8% to 20.0% (-17.8pp)
Amphitheater Unified: 42.8% to 22.5% (-20.3pp)
Gilbert Unified: 24.6% to 15.6% (-9.0pp)

These are sizable districts serving diverse populations. Their sustained improvement suggests that institutional capacity, not just demographics, drives attendance recovery.

The Distribution

Among the 106 districts with active improvement streaks, the median total improvement was meaningful, not just statistical noise. The range runs from modest single-digit improvements in districts that were already relatively low to the dramatic 40+ point drops in districts that started at crisis levels.

Why This Matters

The 106 districts with improvement streaks represent roughly one-quarter of all Arizona districts with enough data to measure. That means most districts have either stalled, worsened, or oscillated rather than sustaining steady improvement.

But it also means that sustained recovery is possible across district types, sizes, and demographics. The state's overall stall (only 0.6 percentage points of improvement in 2025) is not a universal condition. It is the average of districts still improving and districts that have plateaued or reversed.

Tuba City went from 57% to 28% while Peach Springs, 75 miles away on the same reservation system, stayed above 62%. Gilbert dropped to 15.6% while Mesa, its next-door neighbor, is still above 20%. The improving districts are not a random sample. They are specific places where specific people made specific choices. Figuring out what those choices were is the obvious next step.

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

Peoria, Amphitheater, and Washington Elementary Cut Chronic Absence by More Than 15 Points

Thu, 07 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Three large traditional school districts in the Phoenix and Tucson metros have cut chronic absenteeism by more than 15 percentage points since the COVID peak, all while serving diverse, largely working-class student populations.

Amphitheater Unified, in Tucson's northern suburbs, dropped from 42.8% to 22.5% — a 20.3-point improvement. Washington Elementary, in central Phoenix, went from 40.2% to 22.3% (-17.9 points). Peoria Unified, in the northwest Phoenix metro, fell from 37.8% to 20.0% (-17.8 points).

What Makes These Districts Noteworthy

These are not small charter schools or affluent suburban enclaves. Peoria Unified enrolls approximately 35,000 students. Washington Elementary serves roughly 22,000. Amphitheater has about 13,000. They are sizable, traditional public school districts that serve large numbers of students of color and students who are economically disadvantaged.

All three started the recovery period with chronic rates above 37% and are now at or near the state average of 23.8%. That trajectory — cutting the rate nearly in half over three years — shows that large institutional systems can achieve sustained improvement, not just small, agile organizations.

The improvement was also steady, not front-loaded. Unlike some districts that showed large drops in 2023 and then stalled, these three continued improving in both 2024 and 2025, suggesting that whatever changes they made were systemic rather than one-time.

District	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	Total Change
Amphitheater	42.8%	37.8%	24.2%	22.5%	-20.3pp
Washington Elem.	40.2%	31.1%	23.7%	22.3%	-17.9pp
Peoria	37.8%	25.7%	21.5%	20.0%	-17.8pp

The Contrast

The recovery of these districts stands in sharp contrast to Tucson Unified, which sits just south of Amphitheater and spiked from 33.8% to 43.6% in 2025. Amphitheater and Tucson Unified serve overlapping parts of the Tucson metro, face similar regional economic conditions, and draw from comparable demographic pools. Yet Amphitheater continued improving while Tucson Unified reversed.

The Phoenix comparison is equally striking. Washington Elementary's 22.3% rate represents a district in central Phoenix — not a suburb. It serves a lower-income, more diverse student population than many of the East Valley districts that get attention for low absence rates. Yet its rate is now within six points of Scottsdale Unified's 16.5%.

What This Suggests

The data cannot explain why these three districts succeeded while others stalled or reversed. That would require investigating their specific interventions — attendance tracking systems, family outreach practices, community partnerships, transportation initiatives, and how they allocated the federal pandemic recovery funds.

What the data does establish is that recovery at scale is achievable. Districts serving 13,000 to 35,000 students, in urban and suburban settings, with significant poverty and diversity, can cut chronic absenteeism by 15 to 20 points over three years. The statewide stall — just 0.6 points of improvement in 2025 — is not inevitable.