Assemblyman Alex Sauickie sent a letter to New Jersey Department of Education Commissioner Lily Laux last week requesting a formal review of the Newark Public School District’s reported dramatic reduction in chronic absenteeism. If the data is accurate, the lawmaker says, its success should be replicated statewide.
According to a recent Asbury Park Press investigation, Newark’s chronic absenteeism rate has fallen from approximately 28% three years ago to 8.5% during the 2025-26 school year, a decline that would place the district substantially below the statewide average of 14.4% and ahead of many school districts that historically have experienced lower absenteeism and stronger academic proficiency. In New Jersey, based on a standard 180-day school year, missing 18 or more days means a student is chronically absent.
“If Newark truly reduced chronic absenteeism that is an extraordinary accomplishment and one that every school district in New Jersey should be studying,” said Sauickie (R-Ocean). “But an improvement of this magnitude also deserves independent verification so taxpayers, parents and educators can have confidence in the numbers.”
Sauickie’s letter asks the department to review the underlying attendance data, including enrollment, withdrawals, attendance and other information used to calculate the absenteeism rate. He also wants the department to quantify the effect that a recent change in the state’s methodology had on the calculation.
The state increased the number of days a student must be enrolled in a district from 45 to 90 before being included in the data.
“Newark will receive nearly $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars this school year. Taxpayers have every right to expect that the student data reported to the state is accurate,” he added.
Newark was subject to strict state oversight for more than two decades. The state takeover ended in 2020. The dramatic attendance improvement has been realized in the years since the district returned to local control.
“The difference between a chronic absenteeism rate near 30% and one below 10% is not simply statistical. It can change a school’s accountability standing, its corrective-action requirements and the level of state oversight it receives,” Sauickie said.
If the state validates Newark’s results, Sauickie wants the department to conduct a formal best-practices review of the programs the district credits with improving attendance and distribute the findings statewide.
“If these numbers are legitimate, then Newark may have developed one of the most successful attendance programs in New Jersey history. In that case, the state’s job should be to figure out exactly what Newark did, what worked and how quickly we can bring those lessons to other districts,” he said.
