{"id":295,"date":"2026-05-15T04:32:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295"},"modified":"2026-05-15T04:32:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:32:34","slug":"chronic-absenteeism-spikes-to-44-in-tucson-unified-school-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295","title":{"rendered":"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Chronic absenteeism in Tucson Unified School District has spiked to 44% in 2025<\/b><\/i>, reversing recent progress and marking the biggest increase since the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Read more Two injured in incident at old Holidome Inn Hotel in Tucson<\/a><\/p>\n

Students are deemed chronically absent when they miss 10% or more of the school year. That equals 18 days of school per year or nine per semester.<\/p>\n

In 2022, after the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 50% of TUSD students were chronically absent. The district made progress, dropping the rate to 34% in 2024. But in 2025, the most recent data available, chronic absenteeism jumped back up to 44%.<\/p>\n

Nonprofit loses funding, leaves Tucson<\/b><\/h3>\n

The spike comes as Higher Ground<\/b><\/i>, a Tucson nonprofit that worked to reduce chronic absenteeism for nearly two decades, lost $2.3 million in state funding. The nonprofit stopped working directly with Tucson schools and moved to Phoenix.<\/p>\n

Jansen Azarias-Suzumoto co-founded Higher Ground 18 years ago. He said chronic absenteeism impacts every student and teacher. When students struggle, they lash out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen you\u2019re looking at a snowball of impact because now they\u2019re doing behaviors out of frustration and impacting the whole classroom,\u201d Azarias-Suzumoto said.<\/p>\n

His solution was an after-school program that included judo, art, music, and archery.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that was a way we would use to ensure kids would want to come to school and actually engage and learn different skills,\u201d Azarias-Suzumoto said.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit grew from there, tackling each family\u2019s need to get students back in class.<\/p>\n

Former students say nonprofit kept them in school<\/b><\/h3>\n

Britney Kovrig was one of those students. Her father was incarcerated for most of her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lived with my mom, a single mom to three. She held down about two to three jobs, depending on when you asked her. And that\u2019s kind of what we were dealing with at that time,\u201d Kovrig said.<\/p>\n

Kovrig\u2019s mother struggled to drive her to school. Then, Higher Ground stepped in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would have either staff or volunteers who were there either pick us up and take us there when it was difficult to do so,\u201d Kovrig said.<\/p>\n

Kovrig, now a victim advocate at the Pima County Attorney\u2019s Office, said she worries about students like her who will be left behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt scares me to think about it in a way because there wouldn\u2019t have been someone there to catch me when I was slipping,\u201d Kovrig said.<\/p>\n

Tucson Police Department Patrol Officer Eli Lopez also benefited from Higher Ground. When he was young, his mother struggled with substance abuse.<\/p>\n

Read more Nothing suspicious found after bomb threat at NAU auditorium in Flagstaff<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a big falling out within our family, so me and my five siblings we moved into my grandmother\u2019s house, and that was the summer after eighth grade, going into freshman year,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Lopez is the oldest and wanted to help out at home. So, he started ditching school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout realizing, you had to take on the dad role inside of the house,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Higher Ground, however, was working at Lopez\u2019s school. The nonprofit set up weekly meetings with Lopez and his grandmother.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, you know, you have to set an example for your younger siblings. That just put stuff in perspective, like it\u2019s not just for me \u2013 it\u2019s also for them,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Nonprofit moves to Phoenix, sees early success<\/b><\/h3>\n

Higher Ground tackled family issues like this in Tucson for nearly a decade. Azarias-Suzumoto said the nonprofit was able to reduce chronic absenteeism by up to 17% at one school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s because kids are showing up to classrooms ready to learn because all the other academic issues are resolved,\u201d Azarias-Suzumoto said.<\/p>\n

After losing state funding last year, a private donor in Phoenix heard of the nonprofit and decided to step in. Higher Ground is now operating in the Roosevelt School District.<\/p>\n

Aimee Marques, a principal at Percy L. Julian Elementary, said Higher Ground is already reducing behavior problems and boosting attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of students that either are close to homelessness or are currently experiencing homelessness, and then we also have students that struggle with transportation, basic needs, clothing, access to electricity,\u201d Marques said.<\/p>\n

Once students are in class, she can work on helping them succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be able to address those needs first in order to create an environment where students are really able to learn and achieve,\u201d Marques said.<\/p>\n

TUSD did not respond to requests for comment about the spike in absenteeism.<\/p>\n

Isabela Lisco<\/b><\/u><\/i> is a <\/i>Report for America<\/b><\/u><\/i> corpsmember covering education solutions for 13 News. Her position is made possible through funding from Report for America and the <\/i>Arizona Local News Foundation\u2019s<\/b><\/u><\/i> Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.<\/i><\/p>\n

Are you streaming 13 News?<\/p>\n

Watch a free live stream of Tucson Now and 13 News at TucsonNow.Live<\/b><\/u><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Be sure to download the free Tucson Now app, which you can find on Apple<\/b><\/u> and Google<\/b><\/u>. <\/p>\n

If you are using a desktop computer, you can use your mobile device to scan the QR code below.<\/p>\n

Read more U of A dorm rummage sale returns with deals and free finds<\/a><\/p>\n

You can submit your breaking news or weather images here<\/b><\/u><\/i>.<\/b><\/u><\/i><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chronic absenteeism in Tucson Unified School District has spiked to 44% in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chronic absenteeism in Tucson Unified School District has spiked to 44% in 2025.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T04:32:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T04:32:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295\"},\"wordCount\":871,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b7f841bf9f966864cdcc842e4cb58017.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295\",\"name\":\"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District - Tucson Moving Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b7f841bf9f966864cdcc842e4cb58017.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T04:32:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b7f841bf9f966864cdcc842e4cb58017.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b7f841bf9f966864cdcc842e4cb58017.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=295#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tucson Moving Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District - Tucson Moving Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District - Tucson Moving Report","og_description":"Chronic absenteeism in Tucson Unified School District has spiked to 44% in 2025.","og_url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295","og_site_name":"Tucson Moving Report","article_published_time":"2026-05-15T04:32:34+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"headline":"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District","datePublished":"2026-05-15T04:32:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295"},"wordCount":871,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7f841bf9f966864cdcc842e4cb58017.avif","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295","name":"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District - Tucson Moving Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7f841bf9f966864cdcc842e4cb58017.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-15T04:32:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7f841bf9f966864cdcc842e4cb58017.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7f841bf9f966864cdcc842e4cb58017.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=295#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chronic absenteeism spikes to 44% in Tucson Unified School District"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/","name":"Tucson Moving Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}