NYC schools set to deploy truancy cops as 33% of students are chronically absent

New York City schools are set to deploy attendance cops to combat their ongoing chronic absenteeism epidemic.

Some 33% of NYC students were chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year, meaning they missed at least 10% of classes, according to the most recent data available.

The “school avoidance liaisons” are full-time school employees such as teachers, guidance counselors, administrators or social workers who will work with parents of kids refusing to come to school, per DOE documents obtained by The Post. They won’t be paid extra for their new roles.

NYC schools are set to deploy “school avoidance liaisons” to tackle chronic absenteeism. REUTERS

They’re tasked with intervening with the families of at-risk students early and connecting them with mental health and other resources offered by the school to try to bring them back into the classroom.

Principals will have to submit their choice for the role as part of their consolidated plan by Sept. 30, per the documents.

School-avoidant behaviors are often linked to disability or mental health issues such as anxiety or depression.

A whopping 43% of disabled students were chronically absent in the 2024-2025 school year,

Education watchdogs blasted the city for allowing the chronic absenteeism crisis to balloon into a years-long epidemic that would require these liaisons in the first place.

“The uptick in chronic absenteeism over the last few years has reached crisis proportions. Schools need to get creative in addressing the problem,” Craig Slutzkin, treasurer of Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education, an NYC pro-merit group, said.

The school avoidance liaisons were established as part of an agreement following a 2024 class-action lawsuit launched by families of chronically absent disabled students, alleging that city schools didn’t have the resources to keep chronically absent disabled students and students with mental health issues in the classroom.

Critics called the new role yet another unpaid burden on teachers, arguing the work should be handled by other professionals.

“Why can’t other city departments handle this? This is just another task that is going to divert teachers’ attention from teaching,” a DOE insider said.

Missing time in the classroom leads to severe academic problems that some students may never recover from — including low math and reading grades, drug use, criminal behavior or dropping out entirely, multiple studies found.

Over one third of city students are chronically absent. REUTERS

David Bloomfield, a professor of educational leadership, law and policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, called the liaisons a “good first step” but said more needs to be done.

“Outsourcing accountability is not an option,” he said.

The DOE’s absenteeism problem is among the many issues plaguing city schools.

NYC public schools have been bleeding kids for years, with the latest demographic snapshot showing that they’ve lost over 150,000 students since 2015.

City reading scores for grades 3-8 plummeted an appalling 6 percentage points since last year, with just 50.3% of Big Apple students proficient on the state’s English Language Arts test

Over 900 city schools — nearly half the total — had half their student bodies failing state math and reading tests.

A DOE spokesperson said that the School Avoidance Liaisons will establish a “strong framework” to combat chronic absenteeism.

“While achieving our shared goal of every student being chronically present will require sustained effort, NYC Public Schools is committed to removing barriers to attendance and ensuring every student has the opportunity to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally,” the DOE spokesperson said.