Students in Pueblo County schools were truant 4.6% of the time in the 2023-24 school year, the Colorado Department of Education reported. This rate was lower than in the previous school year.
Overall, there were 31,437 students enrolled in Pueblo County in the 2023-24 school year, of whom 1,432 were marked truant.
Statewide, Denver County schools suffered the most truancy issues (6.3%) in the 2023-24 school year. Meanwhile, Dolores County schools successfully recorded the lowest truancy rate in the region (0%).
Students are generally considered chronically truant if they miss 5% or more of the total number of school days in a year without acceptable excuses.
Colorado’s teacher workforce faces persistent shortages and pay challenges. In the 2023–24 school year, nearly 7,000 teaching positions were vacant statewide at some point. Districts managed to fill only about 75% of those openings with fully qualified hires, leaving many to be filled by short-term substitutes, retirees, or emergency credentials for the rest, while 9% remained unfilled for the entire school year.
Colorado’s K–12 enrollment has gradually declined each year since the pandemic, with about 3–4% fewer students in 2024 than the state’s peak enrollment in 2019.
The declines are concentrated in the early grades and certain rural areas, while some metro districts are holding steady or growing. Lower birth rates and pandemic disruptions are driving the trend. Colorado’s public schools are now serving the smallest number of students in a decade, a shift that has implications for funding and planning even as per-pupil resources increase to compensate.
| Schools | No. of Students Enrolled | Chronic Truancy Rates | Attendance Daily Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Villa Bella Expeditionary School | 297 | 0.2% | 94.8% |
| The Connect Charter School | 253 | 0.7% | 95% |
| Swallows Charter Academy High School | 170 | 0.8% | 96% |
| Swallows Charter Academy | 675 | 1.1% | 94.1% |
| Beulah Middle School | 41 | 1.8% | 90.1% |
| Fountain International Magnet School | 269 | 1.8% | 92.8% |
| Pueblo County High School | 1,199 | 1.8% | 90.2% |
| Cedar Ridge Elementary School | 473 | 1.9% | 91.7% |
| Rye Elementary School | 316 | 1.9% | 90.7% |
| Paragon Preschool | 117 | 11.7% | 83.1% |
| Paragon Learning Center | 469 | 12.6% | 87.4% |
| Academy of Las Animas Online School | 512 | 13.8% | 85.1% |
| D60 Online School | 115 | 14.9% | 84.7% |
| Pueblo West High School | 1,503 | 2% | 90.8% |
| Beulah Elementary School | 105 | 2.1% | 90% |
| South Mesa Elementary School | 327 | 2.1% | 91.4% |
| Desert Sage Elementary School | 372 | 2.2% | 92.4% |
| Liberty Point International School | 436 | 2.2% | 90.4% |
| Sierra Vista Elementary School | 435 | 2.2% | 92.1% |
| Sky View Middle School | 587 | 2.3% | 91.5% |
| Pleasant View Middle School | 352 | 2.4% | 90.4% |
| Prairie Winds Elementary School | 513 | 2.4% | 91.9% |
| Liberty Point Elementary School | 455 | 2.5% | 89.6% |
| Rye High School | 266 | 2.5% | 90.2% |
| Sunset Park Elementary School | 403 | 2.5% | 93.5% |
| Craver Middle School | 152 | 2.8% | 90.1% |
| Minnequa Elementary School | 287 | 2.8% | 91.7% |
| Vineland Middle School | 343 | 2.8% | 91.7% |
| South Park Elementary School | 287 | 3.1% | 91.9% |
| Vineland Elementary School | 325 | 3.1% | 91.7% |
| Avondale Elementary School | 171 | 3.3% | 91% |
| Haaff Elementary School | 283 | 3.5% | 92% |
| North Mesa Elementary School | 415 | 3.5% | 92.8% |
| Pueblo School for Arts & Sciences at Fulton Height | 228 | 3.6% | 90.7% |
| Heritage Elementary School | 253 | 3.7% | 89.9% |
| Highland Park Elementary School | 301 | 3.7% | 89.3% |
| Corwin International Magnet School | 543 | 3.8% | 91.3% |
| Eva R. Baca Elementary School | 251 | 3.9% | 90.5% |
| Goodnight Elementary School | 556 | 3.9% | 91.2% |
| Morton Elementary School | 362 | 4% | 90.1% |
| GOAL Academy | 6,142 | 4.5% | 95.5% |
| Irving Elementary School | 291 | 4.6% | 90% |
| 70 Online | 197 | 4.7% | 91.6% |
| Columbian Elementary School | 393 | 4.7% | 88.9% |
| Park View Elementary School | 307 | 4.8% | 89.2% |
| Belmont Elementary School | 418 | 5% | 90.5% |
| Chavez/Huerta K-12 Preparatory Academy | 978 | 5.1% | 90.2% |
| Bradford Elementary School | 280 | 5.2% | 88.3% |
| W. H. Heaton Middle School | 617 | 5.5% | 87.3% |
| Beulah Heights Elementary School | 278 | 5.6% | 89.6% |
| Franklin School of Innovation | 338 | 5.6% | 88.7% |
| Pueblo Charter School for the Arts & Sciences | 434 | 5.6% | 89.4% |
| Pueblo Classical Academy | 177 | 6% | 88.7% |
| South High School | 895 | 6.1% | 87.4% |
| Pueblo Academy of Arts | 495 | 6.6% | 85.9% |
| Bessemer Elementary School | 291 | 7.6% | 89% |
| Risley International Academy of Innovation | 341 | 7.7% | 85.3% |
| Roncalli Stem Academy | 247 | 7.8% | 86.8% |
| Central High School | 1,053 | 7.9% | 86.9% |
| East High School | 1,024 | 8.7% | 85.1% |
| Centennial High School | 824 | 9.1% | 87.4% |
| County | 31,437 | 4.6% | 90.9% |
| State | 866,824 | 3.4% | 91.5% |
Information in this story was obtained from the Colorado Department of Education. The source data can be found here.
