Seagoville High School reported a chronic absenteeism rate of 42.5%.
By Staff Reports
More than four out of every 10 Seagoville High School students were chronically absent during the 2024–25 school year. The finding comes from the latest campus level data published by the Texas Education Agency.
Seagoville High reported a chronic absenteeism rate of 42.5%. That was the highest mark among the seven schools in the Dallas ISD Seagoville feeder pattern. The rate was nearly twice the districtwide figure of 22.7% and more than double the statewide rate of 18%.
The results were not a single year anomaly. The high school has stayed above 40% for four consecutive school years. Its peak came in 2021–22 at 54.8%.
Seagoville Middle School moved in the opposite direction. Its rate fell from 29% in 2020–21 to 12.7% in 2024–25. The campus now sits below both the Dallas ISD rate and the statewide rate.
Results among the five elementary schools were mixed. Chronic absenteeism increased at Central Elementary and Kleberg Elementary during the latest reporting year. Rates also rose at Seagoville North Elementary and Ebby Halliday Elementary while Seagoville Elementary recorded a slight decline.
Seven Years of Campus Data
The table below begins with 2018–19. That was the last complete school year before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted attendance and school operations. The 2019–20 figures cover the year in which Texas campuses closed for in person instruction during the spring.
Those pandemic year numbers should not be read as evidence of a lasting attendance improvement. The final column shows the most recent results for every campus.
| Campus | 2018–19 | 2019–20* | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seagoville High | 27.2% | 22.2% | 36.0% | 54.8% | 41.3% | 44.6% | 42.5% |
| Seagoville Middle | 13.0% | 6.9% | 29.0% | 25.4% | 19.2% | 16.2% | 12.7% |
| Central Elementary | 8.4% | 3.0% | 10.4% | 19.8% | 10.3% | 6.6% | 12.3% |
| Kleberg Elementary | 6.9% | 4.0% | 6.4% | 28.4% | 20.8% | 16.5% | 18.5% |
| Seagoville Elementary | 8.3% | 4.1% | 6.5% | 24.2% | 18.3% | 15.5% | 14.7% |
| Seagoville North Elementary | 6.0% | 5.6% | 6.9% | 21.5% | 20.4% | 11.3% | 18.0% |
| Ebby Halliday Elementary | 11.4% | 6.9% | 9.9% | 21.6% | 20.8% | 13.0% | 17.5% |
| Dallas ISD | 13.5% | 10.0% | 22.7% | 27.6% | 23.8% | 21.4% | 22.7% |
| Texas | 11.4% | 6.7% | 15.0% | 25.7% | 20.3% | 19.0% | 18.0% |
*The 2019–20 school year was interrupted by pandemic related campus closures.
Seagoville High Remains the Outlier
The 42.5% rate at Seagoville High means chronic absence affected roughly two out of every five students in 2024–25. The result was an improvement of 2.1 percentage points from the 44.6% posted the previous year. It still stood 15.3 points above the campus mark of 27.2% recorded before the pandemic.
In 2023–24 the state counted 898 chronically absent students at Seagoville High. The calculation that year included 2,012 students.
The denominator is not the campus enrollment on a single day. It includes students who met the state minimum enrollment requirement during the reporting year. Some of those students entered or left the campus partway through the year.
The high school has not returned to the attendance level it held before the pandemic. Its lowest mark during the past four years was 41.3% in 2022–23. That figure remained far above the 27.2% posted in 2018–19.
Middle School Records Sustained Improvement
Seagoville Middle produced the strongest long term recovery in the feeder pattern. The campus reached 29% in 2020–21 before falling to 25.4% the following year. It then declined to 19.2% and 16.2% before landing at 12.7% in 2024–25.
Seagoville Middle was the only campus in the feeder pattern to finish 2024–25 below its 2018–19 level.
Its latest rate was slightly lower than the 13% mark it posted before the pandemic. The 2023–24 records showed 240 chronically absent students at the school. The calculation included 1,485 students that year.
Elementary Results Move in Both Directions
Central Elementary reported the lowest 2024–25 rate in the feeder pattern at 12.3%. That result was nearly double the 6.6% the campus posted a year earlier.
Seagoville Elementary improved slightly and fell from 15.5% to 14.7%. Its latest rate still remained 6.4 percentage points above its 2018–19 level.
Kleberg Elementary increased from 16.5% to 18.5% and finished slightly above the statewide rate. Ebby Halliday Elementary climbed from 13% to 17.5%.
Seagoville North rose from 11.3% to 18%. The jump measured 6.7 percentage points.
Seagoville High and Seagoville Middle improved. Seagoville Elementary joined them.
Rates increased at the other four campuses in the feeder pattern.
What Chronic Absenteeism Measures
A student is counted as chronically absent in the historical state series after two conditions are met. The student must be enrolled for at least 10 days and must miss 10% or more of those days.
The measure applies to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It is broader than truancy because it counts missed instructional time rather than unexcused absences alone. In a traditional 180 day school year the threshold works out to about 18 missed days.
The measure does not explain why students were absent. Health problems and transportation troubles can drive the numbers. Housing instability and family responsibilities also play a role.
Disengagement and safety concerns can affect attendance as well. Campus percentages alone cannot establish which factors are driving the results at a single school.
Research has consistently linked poor attendance with lower academic performance. It has also tied chronic absence to a greater likelihood of leaving school before graduation. The relationship does not mean every chronically absent student will drop out.
That pattern still makes attendance an important early warning measure. A state law effective September 1, 2025 added chronically absent students to the legal definition of students considered at risk of dropping out. The law also requires chronic absenteeism information to be collected and made public at the campus and district levels.
The Central Question for Seagoville
The feeder pattern results do not show one uniform trend. Seagoville Middle has erased its pandemic era increase. Several elementary schools improved after unusually high rates in 2021–22 while four recorded renewed increases in the latest year.
Seagoville High remains the most urgent concern. Its rate improved slightly but chronic absenteeism still affects more than 40% of the students included in the state calculation.
The data identify where the problem is concentrated. They do not reveal whether the missed time comes mostly from illness or transportation or family circumstances. They also cannot separate disengagement from disciplinary issues or any other barrier.
That is the question Dallas ISD and campus leaders must answer before the numbers can improve in a meaningful way.
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Seagoville Schools Dallas ISD Chronic Absenteeism Seagoville High School Seagoville Middle School Student Attendance Texas Education Agency
