Correction (September 30, 2026): An earlier version of this article, including its headline, said every gap between student groups in Hawaii's chronic absence data was wider in 2024-25 than before the pandemic. That compared two different measures. Hawaii counted students absent 15 or more days through 2022-23 and counts students absent 18 or more days from 2023-24, so gaps on either side of the change are not directly comparable. The article now compares gaps only within each measure, which changes its central finding: the gaps widened through 2022-23, and most narrowed in 2024-25. An unsupported claim about the share of Hawaii's enrollment in two groups and several unsourced explanations were also removed.

Hawaii's attendance gaps between student groups tell two stories, one for each way the state has counted chronic absence.

Under the older measure, which counted students absent 15 or more days, every gap this article tracks was wider in 2022-23 than in 2018-19. The gap between Pacific Islander and Asian students grew from 19 percentage points to 31. The gap between Native Hawaiian and Asian students grew from 16 points to 27. All nine gaps, six by race and three for overlapping service groups, moved the same way.

Under the newer measure, which counts students absent 18 or more days, the direction turned. From 2023-24 to 2024-25, seven of the nine gaps narrowed and two held steady. None widened. The Pacific Islander-Asian gap went from 31 points to 29, and the Native Hawaiian-Asian gap from 26 to 25.

That is one year of movement on the new measure, and one year is not a trend.

The Order Held Every Year

The ranking of groups by chronic absence is a same-year comparison, so it holds up across the measure change. In each of the seven years from 2018-19 through 2024-25, Pacific Islander students had the highest rate, Native Hawaiian students the second highest, and Hispanic students the third. Asian students had the lowest rate every year, with Filipino students just above. The only change came in 2020-21, when Black and White students were tied at 13%.

In 2024-25, the rates were:

1. Pacific Islander (40%)
2. Native Hawaiian (36%)
3. Hispanic (26%)
4. White (21%)
5. Black (18%)
6. Filipino (16%)
7. Asian (11%)

Gaps With Asian Students, Measure by Measure

Measured from the group with the lowest rate, the older-measure gaps all widened between 2018-19 and 2022-23. The Filipino-Asian gap, the smallest, went from 2 points to 6. On the newer measure, the Filipino-Asian gap narrowed from 7 points to 5, and the Hispanic-Asian gap stayed at 15.

Service Groups

The same pattern shows up for students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, students receiving special education services, and English learners, each measured against the all-student rate. These groups overlap with each other and with every racial group.

On the older measure, the lunch-eligibility gap grew from 6 points in 2018-19 to 10 in 2022-23, after peaking at 13. The special education gap grew from 8 points to 11, after peaking at 12. The English learner gap grew from 1 point to 3; it peaked earlier than the others, at 9 points in 2020-21.

On the newer measure, the lunch-eligibility gap narrowed from 9 points to 8 and the special education gap from 10 to 9. The English learner gap held at 4.

What the Data Leave Open

The gaps track groups, not causes. The state's attendance files record rates for each group but nothing about the housing, health, work, or transportation circumstances that might separate them, so they cannot say why the gaps widened through 2022-23 or why most narrowed in 2024-25. The next year of data under the newer measure will show whether the narrowing continues.

Attendance figures come from the Hawaii Department of Education's school accountability reports, covering 2018-19 through 2024-25.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.