January 28th, 2022 by WCBC Radio

The pandemic has led to a drop in the number of kids enrolled in Maryland schools, and of those enrolled, more kids are skipping out on classes. Officials presented the numbers during the January meeting of the Maryland State Board of Education. WTOP reports two years ago, the state had 909,414 students enrolled in public schools, and over 132,620 students enrolled in private schools. Those numbers plummeted last year, with the number of home-schooled kids shooting up. This year, public school enrollment fell by about another thousand kids, to just under 881,500 students. It’s unclear how many students are enrolled in private schools this year. Another concerning trend is the increase in “chronic absenteeism,” which is students missing more than 10% of class time. State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury said students racking up unexcused absences signify something bigger and more worrisome…