Chronic Absenteeism

State's description: 2021-2022 Percentage of students who were enrolled for at least 10 days in a school/district who are chronically absent from school. A student is defined as chronically absent when they are enrolled in a NC public school for at least 10 school days at any time during the school year, and whose total number of absences is = or > 10% of the total number of days that the student has been enrolled at any school during a given school year.

Listed in the state's table index as rcd_chronic_absent (active, 2018)

174,768 rows loaded, covering 2,933 schools and agencies, 2017–18 to 2023–24.

1. The state publishes an Excel data dictionary. This demo reads it: 66 table definitions, 525 column definitions, and 181 code definitions — the same ones behind the Decoded view above.
2. From those definitions it writes a Django database model for each table, so nobody has to type the columns in by hand. This table's model came out like this:

class RcdChronicAbsent(SRCBaseModel):
    agency_code = models.CharField(max_length=6, null=True, blank=True)
    count = models.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=2, null=True, blank=True)
    den = models.DecimalField(max_digits=38, decimal_places=0, null=True, blank=True)
    masking = models.CharField(
        max_length=192,
        null=True,
        blank=True,
        choices=[
            ("1", ">95%"),
            ("2", "<5%"),
            ("3", "<10 in denominator"),
            (
                "4",
                "Insufficient Data (per business area, specific alternate minimum denominator, there is not enough"
                " data to provide a meaningful answer - additional set of masking rules on a case by case basis)",
            ),
        ],
    )
    pct = models.DecimalField(max_digits=4, decimal_places=1, null=True, blank=True)
    subgroup = models.CharField(
        max_length=40,
        null=True,
        blank=True,
        choices=[
            ("EDS", "Economically Disadvantaged"),
            ("NEDS", "Not Economically Disadvantaged"),
            ("NOT_EDS", "Not Economically Disadvantaged"),
            ("ELS", "English Learners"),
            ("NELS", "Not English Learners"),
            ("SWD", "Students With Disabilities"),
            ("NSWD", "Not Students With Disabilities"),
            ("WH7", "White"),
            ("BL7", "Black"),
            ("HI7", "Hispanic"),
            ("AM7", "American Indian"),
            ("AS7", "Asian"),
            ("MU7", "Two or More Races"),
            ("MALE", "Male"),
            ("FEM", "Female"),
            ("ALL", "All Students"),
            ("AIG", "Academically / Intellectually Gifted"),
            ("NAIG", "Not Academically / Intellectually Gifted"),
            ("PI7", "Pacific Islander"),
            ("HMS", "Homeless"),
            ("FCS", "Foster Care"),
            ("MIL", "Military Connected"),
            ("MIG", "Migrant"),
            ("AIAN", "American Indian / Alaskan Native"),
            ("ASPI", "Pacific Islander / Asian"),
            ("Other", "Other"),
        ],
    )
    year = models.CharField(max_length=4, null=True, blank=True)

    class Meta:
        db_table = "rcd_chronic_absent"
        managed = True

3. 174,768 rows were then loaded from the state's raw data files into RcdChronicAbsent.
4. It also takes a fingerprint (SHA-256) of the dictionary's general-rules sheet. If the state quietly rewrites its rules document, the next rebuild flags the change instead of absorbing it silently.