Fresno Unified begins school year amid ICE raid concerns. Did attendance go down?
Students in Fresno Unified went back to school earlier this month amid concerns that fears of mass deportations would keep several pupils of immigrant families from attending class.
Officials of California’s third-largest school district have braced for the potential that worried families would keep a significant portion of students home, further increasing Fresno Unified’s already high rate rates of chronic absenteeism. A recent Stanford University study found a rise in Central Valley student absences following the January surprise immigration raid in Kern County.
Fresno Unified attendance from the first week of school showed student attendance levels remained mostly stable with previous years, so far.
When school came back in session Aug. 18, first-week attendance levels dipped by about 0.5% but were still well above fall 2020 and 2021 numbers. Chronic absenteeism rates also began improving after an initial post-pandemic spike.
Fresno Unified’s superintendent has discussed efforts to combat potential attendance declines, but are recent concerns surrounding immigration enforcement impacting the district’s progress?
Superintendent Misty Her meets with chronically absent students at home, encouraging them to return to school. She told The New York Times in June that some parents take their children with them during their seasonal farm work due to fear of being separated via deportation. Her says the district offers synchronous online instruction, which has steadily held an enrollment of about 600 students, as a way of allowing students to continue their studies from home.
But with escalated concerns about immigration enforcement at play, will absenteeism rates be impacted?
So far, attendance and absenteeism rates have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
According to data from the California Department of Education, more than half of the district’s students were chronically absent for at least 10% of eligible school days during the 2021-2022 school year. The chronic absenteeism rate declined to 31.4% by 2024 but remains more than 10 percentage points higher than before the pandemic.
“We saw a slight decrease in [average daily attendance] in comparison to last year in the first few days,” said district spokesperson A.J. Kato. “During the initial days of school, we are still very much in the process of enrolling students, clearing up attendance, and locating students who have not yet returned to school. As some of these items have settled, we will be able to get an accurate picture of where we are currently.”
Chronic absenteeism levels do not directly influence state funding, but absences still lower the average daily attendance figure that the state uses for funds.
Fresno Unified adopted various strategies and incentives to boost attendance last school year, including an “attendance marathon” rewarding schools with $1,000 for week-to-week attendance increases.
Kato said the district will shift to “family engagement efforts” for the coming year and provide staff with training and unspecified tools to better monitor attendance.
In January, Her and the board signed a resolution declaring Fresno Unified as a “safe space school district” against immigration enforcement. The district told families it would not ask for citizenship or immigration statuses, nor would it cooperate with immigration enforcement officials unless legally required.
Her reiterated these commitments in an August message to families.
“Our policies reflect our unwavering commitment to protecting the dignity and rights of every student,” she said.
This story was originally published August 30, 2025 at 11:15 AM.
