Across the state, educators say too many students are missing school.

According to the Kentucky Department of Education, about 28% of students were considered chronically absent during the 20 2324 school year.

That means they missed 10% or more of the school year.

The numbers were slightly worse the year prior to combat this.

The department has launched a new campaign to raise awareness about the issue and to encourage regular school attendance.

More about this topic and tonight's look at education Matters.

We really want all students to feel that school is a, well, welcoming and supportive place for them where they can learn and grow.

Our Kentucky educators, help students learn the skills that they need to be successful in life.

And we really want to engage the community as partners in keeping Kentucky kids in the classroom and on that path to being successful.

So the focus of our, Attendance Matters campaign is really to bring awareness, to the public and to families about the importance of daily attendance and helping to identifies identify ways that we as a community can support students in attending school.

Sometimes students are unable to attend school because of health issues.

We also know there have been a number of transportation challenges with, with families, being able to get their students to school.

We know there's also a lot of, housing and food insecurity that can sometimes impact, a household.

And, you know, even students who may need to help, contribute financially to their home.

And so those are those are struggles that, families are navigating.

And we want to make sure that both, the school community as well as, local, wraparound services and organizations can, can be leveraged.

We know that students also sometimes have mental health issues.

And so for the past several years, we've also been trying to enhance the access to school based mental health services.

So we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to remove that as a barrier as well.

Sometimes students just feel like they've they have a sense of a lack of belonging or that the school is, environment isn't welcoming or motivating enough for them because we spent, you know, a few years, doing school at home.

And so we want to make sure that we understand and provide those enriched learning opportunities in the classroom.

And to, redirect habits that may have been formed during the time that we were learning remotely.

And then sometimes there's just a misconception in the community that, a certain number of unexcused absences may not be a big deal or have a long impact.

We actually see higher than expected rates of chronic absenteeism among the very young grades, like kindergarten, first, second grade, when really those are opportunities for students to build some really important foundational skills that will help them excel academically.

Later on, I think.