ORLANDO, Fla. — Tuesday's Orange County Public Schools meeting is getting underway and members are expected to get an update on a strategic plan to combat chronic absenteeism.

Leaders will discuss what’s working in the attempt to mitigate the issue.

A report from 2023 shows a decrease in absenteeism compared to 2022, but the OCPS numbers remain higher than the state average.

Last year, almost 24% of OCPS students in 2023 were chronically absent. It includes having at least 10 unexcused absences within a 90-day period.

That number is higher than the state average at 19.4%.

Since 2019, there has been a steady increase in chronic absenteeism at OCPS.

Attendance dropped significantly from 2019 to 2022. The number of chronically absent students increased from 12% of students in 2019 to 28% of students in 2022.

Those numbers have come down since 2022.

Officials say missing school increases the risk of school dropout and is detrimental to math and reading achievements, peer interactions, emotional development, grade retention and student discipline.

Offering incentives to improve attendance and building relationships with students appears to be two strategies that are increasing overall attendance in classes.

OCPS says a student is absent for the entire day if he or she misses more than one-half of the school day, and all absences are recorded as unexcused until the student returns and provides documentation.