WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. leaders are set to face questions about what the city is doing — or not doing — to keep students in school, as an oversight hearing focuses on chronic absenteeism and truancy.
The hearing, called by D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson before the Committee of the Whole, has more than 100 witnesses listed to testify.
According to data shared in the hearing notice, 35% of all students were truant in the 2025-26 school year, only a 1% increase from the year prior. Similarly, 38.8% of students were chronically absent, with a very slight 0.6% increase from the year prior…