A significant percentage of high school students in Cambridge could be in danger of losing credit for courses because of a new policy meant to combat chronic absenteeism.
Last year, 36% of students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School were chronically absent, administrators said at the school committee meeting on Tuesday November 18. A student in Massachusetts is considered chronically absent after missing at least 10% of enrolled days in school.
To fight absenteeism, the district implemented a new policy this year at CRLS where attendance violations could be given to students who are absent 7 or more times in a quarter or 15 or more times in a semester for classes that meet every day, with additional rules for year-long courses, courses that meet on alternate days and how many tardies count as an absence. An attendance violation could result in a student not receiving credit for the course or, for a senior in the fourth quarter, not participating in commencement.
Superintendent David Murphy confirmed this in a statement to Cambridge Day: “A revision to the Grading for Equity Policy now provides that excessive absenteeism attributable to non-excused absences will result in ‘no credit’ determinations,” he wrote.
The 36% of CRLS students who were chronically absent in 2024-25 represented a historic high. The rate had been 34% in 2024-25 and 32% in 2023-24.
“Chronic absenteeism is an issue of utmost importance that we have and will continue to prioritize at the absolute highest level,” Murphy said in his statement.
Aside from the high school, absentee rates have been declining at the district level, down to 22% in 2025. CRLS rates have been above the district and state rates since 2018.
Students with disabilities have the highest rate of chronic absenteeism at 50%, followed by low-income students at 48%, and high-need students at 47%. Rates for Latino and Black students were also higher than the all-student average of 36%. Students who are English learners had a 35% rate of absenteeism, five percentage points higher than White students.
Students concerned about communication
Student leaders were concerned by how the new policy has been communicated.
“A lot of students don’t understand the policies that well. They’re not aware of the new policies that we’ve been implementing with the phone ban, the absentees,” said Zihaam Jama, a student member of the school committee at a September 2 meeting.
“I think that a lot of students feel as though there hasn’t been enough effective communication,” Jama added.
Another revision of the policy, voted on at the Sept. 2 meeting of the school committee, includes the need for “additional, appropriate documentation” from parents or caregivers if a student has a “pattern of chronic absenteeism,” Murphy said at that meeting.
Some public commenters at the Sept. 2 meeting expressed concern about the policy’s additional language, arguing that documentation requirements do not effectively address the root causes of student absenteeism.
Murphy explained that the policy’s additional clause is “not a substantive change” and would not place “further restrictions on the types of documentation necessary” when a student is chronically absent from school.
When the committee asked how student representatives Jama and Eva Asraf understood the rising tide of chronic absenteeism at their high school, they pointed to the pressure of being a student juggling Advanced Placement courses, extracurriculars and family commitments.
“A lot of the time [students] are skipping school so they can do school in a different environment,” Asraf said. “It’s feeling overworked and having so many things going on at once that I can’t feel focused in just one class.”
Jama said that when coursework piles up in many classes and deadlines are “not lenient,” students may feel that they need to skip one class to catch up on work for a different subject.
CRLS interim principal Allan Gately Gehant spoke of a lack of incentive for seniors to attend class, referencing “senioritis” and a goal to increase internship and career opportunities for upperclassmen.
Murphy seconded this goal in his statement.
“For all students, but with a particular emphasis on our upper-class [juniors and seniors] students preparing to enter post-secondary education or the workforce, we are increasing opportunities for internships, career exploration, and early college pathways to deepen student engagement during school hours,” Murphy said.
This story has been corrected to reflect the wording of the new policy on attendance violations, including how tardies are accounted for.
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