Chronic absenteeism in Montana public schools

Lodge Grass High School in Lodge Grass had the highest chronic absenteeism of any Montana school with 50 or more students in 2022-23: 97.7% of its students missed 10% or more of their school days. The average Montana school reported 33.7%, against 26.5% for U.S. schools; 73 of the 100 schools listed were at 50% or more.

EDFacts chronic absenteeism 2022-23 · schools open in 2024-25 with 50+ students · method

Chronically absent students, highest Montana schools, 2022-23Lodge Grass High School 97.7%; Browning High School 97.3%; Box Elder High School 96.3%; Rocky Boy 7-8 95.7%; Crow Agency School 95.6%; Plenty Coups High School 94.8%; Lockwood Middle School 92.4%; Lodge Grass 7-8 91.8%; Box Elder 7-8 91.1%; Hays-Lodge Pole High School 90.5%; Montana 33.7%.0255075100Lodge Grass High School97.7%Browning High School97.3%Box Elder High School96.3%Rocky Boy 7-895.7%Crow Agency School95.6%Plenty Coups High School94.8%Lockwood Middle School92.4%Lodge Grass 7-891.8%Box Elder 7-891.1%Hays-Lodge Pole High School90.5%Montana 33.7%
Chronically absent students, highest Montana schools, 2022-23Lodge Grass High School 97.7%; Browning High School 97.3%; Box Elder High School 96.3%; Rocky Boy 7-8 95.7%; Crow Agency School 95.6%; Plenty Coups High School 94.8%; Lockwood Middle School 92.4%; Lodge Grass 7-8 91.8%; Box Elder 7-8 91.1%; Hays-Lodge Pole High School 90.5%; Montana 33.7%.0255075100Lodge Grass High School97.7%Browning High School97.3%Box Elder High School96.3%Rocky Boy 7-895.7%Crow Agency School95.6%Plenty Coups High School94.8%Lockwood Middle School92.4%Lodge Grass 7-891.8%Box Elder 7-891.1%Hays-Lodge Pole High School90.5%Montana 33.7%
Chronically absent students, highest Montana schools, 2022-23Lodge Grass High School 97.7%; Browning High School 97.3%; Box Elder High School 96.3%; Rocky Boy 7-8 95.7%; Crow Agency School 95.6%; Plenty Coups High School 94.8%; Lockwood Middle School 92.4%; Lodge Grass 7-8 91.8%; Box Elder 7-8 91.1%; Hays-Lodge Pole High School 90.5%; Montana 33.7%.050100Lodge Grass High School97.7%Browning High School97.3%Box Elder High School96.3%Rocky Boy 7-895.7%Crow Agency School95.6%Plenty Coups High School94.8%Lockwood Middle School92.4%Lodge Grass 7-891.8%Box Elder 7-891.1%Hays-Lodge Pole High School90.5%Montana 33.7%
Chronically absent students, highest Montana schools, 2022-23Lodge Grass High School 97.7%; Browning High School 97.3%; Box Elder High School 96.3%; Rocky Boy 7-8 95.7%; Crow Agency School 95.6%; Plenty Coups High School 94.8%; Lockwood Middle School 92.4%; Lodge Grass 7-8 91.8%; Box Elder 7-8 91.1%; Hays-Lodge Pole High School 90.5%; Montana 33.7%.050100Lodge Grass High School97.7%Browning High School97.3%Box Elder High School96.3%Rocky Boy 7-895.7%Crow Agency School95.6%Plenty Coups High School94.8%Lockwood Middle School92.4%Lodge Grass 7-891.8%Box Elder 7-891.1%Hays-Lodge Pole High School90.5%Montana 33.7%

The chart draws the top of the register below; its source is named under the register.

The 100 highest rates

SchoolCityStudents 2024‑25Chronically absent 2022‑23
Lodge Grass High SchoolLodge Grass17497.7%
Browning High SchoolBrowning63397.3%
Box Elder High SchoolBox Elder8696.3%
Rocky Boy 7-8Box Elder7395.7%
Crow Agency SchoolCrow Agency26895.6%
Plenty Coups High SchoolPryor6494.8%
Lockwood Middle SchoolLockwood35992.4%
Lodge Grass 7-8Lodge Grass5591.8%
Box Elder 7-8Box Elder6691.1%
Hays-Lodge Pole High SchoolHays8490.5%
Browning ElementaryBrowning25890.3%
Lodge Pole SchoolHays14489.6%
Rocky Boy High SchoolBox Elder12589.2%
Heart Butte ElementaryHeart Butte6087.4%
Browning Middle SchoolBrowning36885.1%
The other 85 on the list
SchoolCityStudents 2024‑25Chronically absent 2022‑23
Napi SchoolBrowning27885.0%
Whittier SchoolGreat Falls18782.9%
Lame Deer SchoolLame Deer27879.5%
Poplar 7-8Poplar11777.1%
Longfellow SchoolGreat Falls26374.4%
Big Sky High SchoolMissoula1,14874.2%
Sweet Grass Co High SchlBig Timber16173.9%
Poplar High SchoolPoplar27573.2%
Box Elder SchoolBox Elder23271.7%
Hellgate High SchoolMissoula1,26269.2%
Ashland SchoolAshland7167.7%
Victor High SchoolVictor7466.7%
Harlem High SchoolHarlem17566.3%
Ronan High SchoolRonan37664.2%
Seeley-Swan High SchoolSeeley Lake8563.3%
Harlem 7-8Harlem10463.0%
Hot Springs High SchoolHot Springs6063.0%
Pablo ElementaryPablo22962.4%
Hardin High SchoolHardin51561.7%
C M Russell High SchoolGreat Falls1,41261.6%
Wolf Point High SchoolWolf Point20060.4%
K William Harvey ElementaryRonan37859.5%
Rocky Boy SchoolBox Elder34859.4%
Stevensville High SchoolStevensville34759.0%
Poplar 5-6 SchoolPoplar12458.5%
Great Falls High SchoolGreat Falls1,54857.2%
Harlem Elementary SchoolHarlem35057.2%
East Middle SchoolGreat Falls76456.9%
Washington SchoolHamilton6556.6%
Sentinel High SchoolMissoula1,36556.3%
Mountain View SchoolGreat Falls31555.7%
Whitehall High SchoolWhitehall16155.6%
Hardin Middle SchoolHardin35955.2%
Noxon High SchoolNoxon5655.2%
West ElementaryGreat Falls42155.1%
Ronan Middle SchoolRonan43254.3%
Hardin PrimaryHardin28754.1%
St Ignatius High SchoolSt Ignatius12153.9%
Poplar SchoolPoplar32953.5%
Arlee 7-8Arlee5753.1%
Orchard SchoolBillings34053.0%
Porter Middle SchoolMissoula57952.7%
Southside SchoolWolf Point21452.5%
Darby High SchoolDarby11652.3%
Polson Middle SchoolPolson47752.1%
Belgrade High SchoolBelgrade95851.8%
Wolf Point 7-8Wolf Point10851.6%
Arlee ElementaryArlee20651.5%
Butte High SchoolButte1,26651.4%
Cherry Valley SchoolPolson24351.3%
Valley View SchoolGreat Falls31251.0%
Cut Bank Middle SchoolCut Bank14550.9%
Polson High SchoolPolson51750.8%
H C Davis ElementaryCut Bank20950.7%
Riverside Middle SchoolBillings43650.6%
Alberton SchoolAlberton8950.5%
Eureka Middle School 5-8Eureka25450.4%
Corvallis High SchoolCorvallis40650.0%
Conrad High SchoolConrad12649.7%
West Yellowstone High SchoolWest Yellowstone6048.1%
Billings Sr High SchoolBillings1,62947.8%
Potomac SchoolBonner6047.3%
St Regis SchoolSt Regis10547.0%
Charlo High SchoolCharlo8047.0%
Arrow Creek Elementary SchoolPryor5546.8%
Cut Bank High SchoolCut Bank18346.3%
Culbertson SchoolCulbertson12446.1%
St Regis High SchoolSt Regis5445.5%
Hamilton Middle SchoolHamilton46045.0%
Libby High SchoolLibby36344.9%
Broadwater SchoolHelena20744.9%
Whitefish Middle 5-8Whitefish65744.5%
Arlee High SchoolArlee13544.1%
Frenchtown High SchoolFrenchtown36444.0%
Ponderosa SchoolBillings27743.8%
Victor SchoolVictor13243.8%
Fort Shaw Elementary SchoolFort Shaw8843.8%
Twin Bridges SchoolTwin Bridges9043.7%
Helena High SchoolHelena97943.6%
Shelby 7-8Shelby10943.4%
Bonner 6-8Bonner10043.4%
E F Duvall 7-8Deer Lodge8843.3%
Troy High SchoolTroy13243.0%
Bigfork High SchoolBigfork33342.7%
St Ignatius Middle SchoolSt Ignatius12842.7%

Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts 2022-23: students absent 10% or more of school days over enrollment. Enrollment from NCES CCD 2024-25.

How many Montana schools report a rate

494 of 498 Montana schools with 50 or more students report a rate (99%) in the 2022-23 file. The state average on the national state ranking rests on these reporting schools.

More lists for Montana

  1. 01Chronic absenteeism by state

    The national ranking

  2. 02Public schools in Montana

    The state hub: schools, students, districts

  3. 03Every school district

    Directory, 2024-25

  4. 04Largest schools

    By 2024-25 enrollment

  5. 05Fewest students per teacher

    Schools, 2024-25

  6. 06Highest-spending districts

    F-33 fiscal year 2022-23

Sources

Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts Chronic absenteeism by school · 2022-23

Compiled from official source data by .