- There is a growing gap in North Carolina's classrooms, and I'm not talking about test scores or funding, I'm talking about empty seats.

You see, in 2023, North Carolina's chronic absenteeism rate hit a staggering 27%.

That's more than one in four students missing school on a regular basis, and it's not just North Carolina, nationwide, the rates of chronic absenteeism look about the same, even after the pandemic.

Students who consistently miss school in early grades are less likely to read at grade level by third grade.

By high school, these same students face a higher dropout risk, potentially leading to higher unemployment rates and lower lifetime earnings.

So why hasn't it returned to pre-pandemic rates and what's being done about it?

I'm David Hurst, this is "ncImpact."

[gentle music] We need to rewind to early 2020, the halls of North Carolina schools were suddenly silent.

Empty classrooms, vacant chairs, the familiar rhythm of daily attendance disrupted.

How much did the pandemic make things worse?

- Whoa, it was very difficult - [David] When COVID hit, schools across the country faced an unprecedented challenge.

The very concept of going to school transformed overnight, students traded classrooms for computer screens, and attendance, well, it became optional.

As weeks turned into months, the habit of daily school attendance began to erode.

For some families, the barriers were technological, no reliable internet or no dedicated devices for learning.

For others, it was logistical, parents working essential jobs, leaving no one to supervise virtual learning.

To be clear, the pandemic didn't create these disparities, it exposed them.

But here's what caught educators off guard, even after schools reopened their doors, things didn't snap back to normal.

In 2019, before anyone had ever heard of COVID-19, North Carolina's chronic absenteeism rate was 16%.

By 2023, that number had jumped to 27%.

A student is considered chronically absent when they miss 10% or more of school days in a year, that's two days a month.

It might not sound like much, but those absences add up and so do their consequences.

- If this goes unaddressed, we are gonna see a whole generation that is missing out on life, that they're not gonna have the tools that they need to to succeed, they're gonna have hopes and dreams that they just cannot reach.

- [David] Behind every empty desk is a story.

For seventh grader, Isaiah Robinson, the challenge of showing up to school began before the pandemic.

His family moved around a lot, making it difficult to maintain consistent attendance at any one school.

- Elementary school, I didn't really wanna come to school.

The only day I would probably go to school in elementary is probably Field Day.

- [David] Isaiah's story highlights a crucial point.

Chronic absenteeism isn't just about skipping school.

Research from the National Institutes of Health reveals it's a complex issue tied to family circumstances, mental health and shifting cultural norms, barriers that existed long before the pandemic, but have grown more pronounced in its wake.

- Some of the barriers is that their set up is not like most kids.

I have kids on my caseload, some are living in hotels, some are living with relatives, some are living in the shelter.

- [David] Dennis Dixon has spent three decades working with students in Charlotte.

Each day, he sees how these structural barriers can create ripples that affect every aspect of a child's education.

- It's gotta be hard living in a hotel, trying to get your homework done.

It's gotta be hard living in a shelter, trying to get your homework done.

It's gotta be hard living with your cousin or your relatives when you don't have your own room to get your work done.

- [David] It's a complex web of challenges that extends beyond any single classroom or community.

But in Charlotte, one school is testing an incentive-based strategy using reward programs to boost attendance and rebuild the daily habit of coming to school.

Principal Patrice McCauley saw her school's chronic absenteeism rate spike to nearly 59% after the pandemic, that's almost four times higher than pre-pandemic levels.

But through a combination of outreach and incentives, those numbers are slowly improving.

- We do go into homes, we do meet with families.

We also do what we call an attendance challenge.

And so, this past school year, we did decrease chronic absenteeism.

Our goal is to decrease it again this year.

- [David] That improvement comes through creative incentives from candy rewards to party with the principal events.

Perhaps most popular, TikTok Thursdays where students gather for social media inspired dance parties.

But not everyone's embracing that trend.

Do you partake in TikTok Thursdays?

- You know what?

That was the first time I heard that.

- Really?

- I don't participate, I don't do TikTok at all.

- Do you know what TikTok is?

- Yeah, I do, but I don't participate in it.

- [David] I'll admit, when I first heard about TikTok Thursdays and candy rewards, I was skeptical.

Could something so simple really make a difference in such a complex problem?

While educators at the school swear by these incentives, they're the first to acknowledge a harder truth, getting students through the door is just the beginning.

The barriers to attendance often run much deeper than what any reward system can solve.

That's why some districts are implementing a different kind of solution.

Dedicated trouble spotters who work inside schools, building relationships with students before small problems become big ones.

The program is run by Communities in Schools.

It's an organization that places trained site coordinators in schools.

These coordinators identify and address barriers to attendance before they lead to chronic absence.

Site coordinators, like Dennis Dixon, become bridges between school and home, catching early warning signs and connecting families with resources, whether that's stable housing, healthcare, or transportation.

- When you start showing someone that you care and you're gonna be there and you're supporting them, I think their lifestyle's gonna change, they're gonna start having an interest in school.

- [David] But even as schools like Wilson STEM Academy build these vital connections, data shows that while some students miss just a few extra days, others have become deeply disconnected from education altogether, suggesting no single solution will be enough.

So across North Carolina, schools are discovering their own ways to keep students in class.

In some of the state's rural mountain communities, they're using telehealth to keep kids in school.

I know that sounds counterintuitive, but a Duke University study of McDowell, Mitchell and Yancey County schools found that connecting students to healthcare providers virtually led to a 29% drop in chronic absences.

A school nurse could now help a student with asthma consult a doctor without ever leaving the building.

Meanwhile, at Brevard High School, administrators are using a three-tiered system.

It combines real-time attendance tracking with something more personal, over a thousand direct contacts with families.

The goal is to catch problems early.

[gentle music continues] For seventh grader Isaiah Robinson, everything changed after a conversation about school supplies.

That hallway meeting with Dennis Dixon became regular check-ins, building trust and connecting his family with resources for stability.

Today he's an honor roll student planning for college and dreaming of becoming a software developer, - I could just still be able to help my family out and be able to provide, if not, they'd be able to provide for me and I have a good education.

- [David] And while the pandemic is over, the work to address the root causes of absenteeism continues.

Communities across North Carolina are forced to rethink how to engage students in a post-pandemic world.

[balls bouncing] For "ncImpact," I'm David Hurst.