Chronic absenteeism has persisted throughout the 2022 school year within Elgin Independent School District.​This issue has affected schools nationwide throughout all grade-levels. Elgin ISD district communications coordinator Marcial Guajardo noted the difficulties in pinpointing the exact causes of increased absences.​“There have certainly been some illnesses we could point to as causes, including COVID,” said Guajardo. “But at this point, there would be guesswork involved in determining all factors involved in why this is occurring.”​In the years leading up to the pandemic, Elgin ISD attendance rates hovered just below 95 percent. Since the pandemic, including this year, attendance rates have dropped ...