Chronic absenteeism has increased sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need to identify its root causes and implement effective interventions. Despite policymakers’ efforts, evidence on which strategies successfully improve attendance remains limited. Using administrative data from Fulton County Schools, Bogyung Kim and Tim Sass examine if students’ perceptions of their school environment relate to attendance patterns and evaluate the Attendance Recovery Bus Pilot program implemented in spring 2025.

We combine school-by-grade-level results from school perception surveys (school year [SY] 2021-22 to SY 2024-25) with individual-level attendance data to assess how factors such as school safety, engagement, and a welcoming environment influence attendance. The Attendance Recovery Bus Pilot, conducted in two elementary schools, notifies parents/guardians when students are absent at the start of the school day and provides a mid-morning “recovery bus” to transport absent students to school. To measure the program’s impact, we use a difference-in-differences approach, comparing changes in average daily attendance from fall to spring between pilot schools and nearby comparison elementary schools without the program.

We find that perceptions of school safety were most strongly associated with school-level attendance. Overall, though, the perception survey explained only a small portion of attendance differences across schools. Analysis of daily attendance patterns and the Attendance Recovery Bus Pilot program shows that the recovery bus effectively targeted students with high pre-pilot absenteeism. The program also contributed to improved math achievement growth among bus riders who were moderate users. However, the pilot did not produce a significant increase in overall school-level attendance relative to nearby elementary schools. These findings suggest that targeted interventions, such as transportation support for frequently absent students, can benefit specific groups, but broader strategies are needed to meaningfully reduce chronic absenteeism at the schoolwide level.