New report addresses chronic absenteeism in Monroe County schools

By Evan Dawson,

Megan Mack

Published September 22, 2026 at 1:34 PM EDT

Three people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: A woman back left has her dark hair pulled back. She is wearing glasses and a dark top under a black sweater with a white border; a man back center has short red hair and is wearing glasses and a blue and white plaid button-down shirt; a man front right has very short dark hair and is wearing glasses, a black button-down shirt under a grey suitcoat, jeans, and brown shoes.

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Isabel Rosa and Eamonn Scanlon with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, September 22, 2026

David Griffin / WXXI News

A smiling woman with short black braids wearing gold necklaces and a black top under a white blazer

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Qutisha Britt

Provided

A deeply honest personal story from Nikole Hannah-Jones of the New York Times has a lot of people talking about what children need in their K-12 education.

Now comes a new report from The Children’s Agenda in Rochester about chronic absenteeism. The report explores why students themselves say they are not attending school. TCA concludes: “We should not accept that one out of three high school students in Monroe County is chronically absent.”

What's driving the absences? We discuss it with our guests:

Eamonn Scanlon, director of community impact for The Children's Agenda
Isabel Rosa, community and parent advocacy coordinator for The Children's Agenda
Qutisha Britt, parent ambassador with The Children's Agenda