Across the United States, school districts are grappling with a persistent and troubling challenge: chronic absenteeism among high school students. As attendance rates plummet in both urban and suburban districts, educators and administrators are experimenting with new strategies to get students back in the classroom. But as recent developments in Detroit, Michigan, and West Des Moines, Iowa, reveal, there are no easy fixes—and each community faces its own set of obstacles and passionate debates.
In Detroit, the Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) launched a bold experiment at the start of the 2025-26 school year. The district began offering yellow bus service to two high schools—Henry Ford High School and East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney—in hopes of improving attendance. These schools had staggering chronic absenteeism rates in the previous year: 82% and 77%, respectively, according to Chalkbeat. For context, the district-wide chronic absenteeism rate was 60.9% in the 2024-25 school year, a figure that underscores just how widespread the issue has become.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days in a year. For many Detroit high schoolers, getting to school isn’t just about motivation—it’s a logistical hurdle. The district typically doesn’t provide yellow bus service to most high school students, except for those with disabilities or experiencing homelessness. Instead, city buses are the main mode of transportation. More than 3,780 high schoolers received free city bus passes this year, while around 1,400 students rode yellow buses, as reported at a recent community meeting.
The pilot program began with eight yellow buses, each serving dozens of stops strategically chosen based on where students live. “We looked at the density of where the majority of the students who attend those schools live in a neighborhood feeder pattern where they lived, and we strategically placed stops so that those students would not have to walk far,” explained Machion Jackson, the deputy superintendent overseeing transportation, during a community meeting this November.
Yet, despite these efforts, ridership was initially dismal. At the start of the year, only about five students per bus were taking advantage of the new service. By late November, that number had grown to an average of 15 students per bus each day. While that’s a threefold increase, it still represents just about 10% of the student body at each school. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti was candid about the results, stating at a board meeting last month that the pilot is “not having a scaled impact” on chronic absenteeism at either school, though he acknowledged there may be a positive effect for individual students.
The district has tried various tactics to boost ridership, from daily announcements and lunchtime engagement sessions to robocalls to parents and even student incentives. Still, some students report that the yellow buses are less convenient than city buses, with stops that require a longer walk. Others simply aren’t sure where the routes go. “Some students said they had to walk farther to the yellow bus stop than for the city bus. Others didn’t know how to check where the bus route went,” said Anthony Peete, a student representative on the board who attends Henry Ford High School.
With the pilot’s future uncertain, district leaders plan to reassess in January 2026. If additional state funding becomes available, Superintendent Vitti suggested that paying for ride shares for small groups of students might be a more effective use of resources than expanding the yellow bus fleet. The district’s transportation budget for 2025-26 is already sizable—over $57.2 million, nearly $5 million more than the previous year.
Meanwhile, in West Des Moines, Iowa, a different kind of attendance crisis is unfolding. The West Des Moines Community School District’s superintendent’s cabinet has proposed a significant shift in how alternative education is delivered. The plan, unveiled on November 24, 2025, would move services out of the Walnut Creek Campus—a longstanding alternative high school—into a new, revitalized program. The catalyst? Alarmingly low attendance at Walnut Creek, where the chronic absenteeism rate hit 84.53% in the 2024-25 school year, compared to just 27.94% at Valley High School, the district’s traditional high school.
According to Local 5, district officials found that absenteeism often worsened when students transferred to Walnut Creek. The new proposal aims to keep, revitalize, and add services, including more virtual learning options and summer school for elementary students, as preventative measures. However, these changes come with tough trade-offs: staff reductions at Walnut Creek, including the principal and counselor, are part of the plan. Steven Schappaugh, the Executive Director of Secondary Education, assured the public that the district’s HR department would work to reassign as many staff members as possible, using seniority and established labor negotiation mechanisms.
The proposal has sparked heated debate within the community. Many students and parents see Walnut Creek as a lifeline for those who struggle in traditional school settings. At a crowded school board meeting on November 24, 2025, Erin Romar-Aeschilman, a Valley High School alum whose twin sister attended Walnut Creek, voiced her concerns: “These students didn’t do well in the [traditional] school setting, not just because of academics, but because of everything else that comes with being in high school. You can’t just get rid of it and expect it to be better.”
Romar-Aeschilman and others worry that cutting Walnut Creek staff and expecting teachers at larger high schools to absorb these students will not provide the specialized, trauma-informed care that alternative students need. “Our teachers at Valley and other large high schools are already overworked and underpaid, and we’re asking them to then do even more on top of that, if we bring these students back into a school setting,” she told Local 5.
District officials say the new program would roll out in the 2026-27 school year, with the goal of offering more flexible and preventative services. But for many, the loss of Walnut Creek’s unique environment feels like a step backward.
Both Detroit and West Des Moines are wrestling with the same fundamental problem: how to keep students engaged and in school. Their solutions—whether it’s more buses, ride shares, virtual learning, or alternative campuses—reflect the complexity of the issue. There’s no magic bullet, as the numbers and community reactions make clear. But the ongoing debates and experiments in these districts are a testament to the urgency and creativity educators are bringing to the table, even as they face tough decisions and uncertain outcomes.
As the school year progresses, all eyes will be on these districts to see whether their new approaches can turn the tide on absenteeism, or if more drastic measures will be needed to ensure every student has a fair shot at success.
