The Aspen Institute’s State of Play Washington D.C. report, released in 2025, explored the role sports can play to reduce student truancy in schools. High levels of involvement in school sports are one of the strongest correlations with lower risk of cutting or skipping class and school misbehavior, according to a study by the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Truancy in Washington D.C.’s public schools fell from 37% to 30% in 2023-24, returning to pre-pandemic levels as the District fights chronic absenteeism, according to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. Still, almost one-third of students missed at least 10 days without excused absences. Also, about 39% of students were chronically absent in 2023-24, meaning they missed classes for excuses and unexcused reasons for at least 10% of the school year.

As in previous years, high school students exhibited the highest rates of chronic absenteeism, although these rates declined overall by 4% from a year earlier. More than half of ninth graders (58%), 10th graders (57%), 11th graders (55%) and 12th graders (56%) were chronically absent.

Students miss schools for many reasons, including hanging out with friends, trauma, housing and food insecurity, transportation barriers, negative school experiences that go unaddressed, attendance misconceptions that absences are only a problem if they are unexcused, and lack of engagement. Students are more likely to attend when they find meaningful experiences and connections within the school setting.

Since 2017, DCPS Out of School Time Programs (OSTP) afterschool programs have engaged students in academic support, free supper or snack, and a variety of enrichment activities provided by teachers, paraprofessionals, and partner organizations. The program is made possible by funding from DCPS and a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. In 2024-25, afterschool programs managed by OSTP were offered in 55 schools.

OST’s program finder includes sports activities such as basketball, baseball, cheerleading, bowling, flag football, soccer, running, volleyball and tennis. Programs are often connected to life skills, whether it’s poetry, behavioral support, academic tutoring, nutrition, leadership, character development, conflict resolution or other areas of personal development.

Between 2017 and 2022, afterschool OST capacity increased by 10%. Afterschool capacity is highest for elementary and middle school programs. Increasing opportunities for students to engage in OST programs could have important impacts on absenteeism. National research shows that afterschool and summer learning programs have a positive impact on students’ school-day attendance, as well as their engagement in learning and improving their attitudes and feeling of connectedness. Also, 79% of surveyed D.C. parents say that OST programs increase child’s excitement about learning in school, according to Afterschool Alliance.

Across D.C., about 37,000 public school students participate in afterschool programs and around 32,000 participate in summer programs that are subsidized. However, 53,000 students are missing out on afterschool programs and 57,000 are missing out on summer programs. Black youth, in particular, face barriers to access OST programs. Wards 7 and 8, where 82% and 92% of youth are Black, respectively, have the highest population of students who do not have access to OST activities, according to the D.C. Policy Center’s 2023 OST needs assessment. These children also participate in sports at lower rates than the rest of the city. District parents cite safety concerns getting to and from programming, high cost and absence of available programs as the top barriers to participation, according to Afterschool Alliance.

The D.C. City Council introduced a bill in 2023 that would require the District to expand out-of-school time programs by at least 10% annually toward the goal of universal access by 2035 for every student. Programming would be free or affordable to families, with an emphasis on equitable access and geographic convenience, and youth who are at-risk, low-income, criminal justice-involved, or with disabilities would receive priority. Nearly half of all juvenile crime occurs between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., when students could otherwise be in afterschool programming. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the council previously allocated $5 million to build the “My Afterschool DC” platform as a one-stop shop for families to access out-of-school time programming for their students.

However, providers’ ability to scale up will depend on multiple factors including their finances, access to space in schools or in third-party locations, and access to staff, according to city council testimony by Emilia Calma, D.C. Policy Center director of policy and research. A 2019 study by D.C. Policy Center showed many providers have tight fiscal margins, limiting their ability to expand, and providers mentioned delays in obtaining clearance for staff from the District’s Child Protective Registry negatively impacted their ability to hire needed staff.

For several years, the District's OST office has discussed with the OST provider community about prioritizing grant funding for academic-focused programming or programs that combine academics with sports, arts, music and other activities. A coalition of OST providers has concerns about this potential funding shift as it could require them to change their curriculums and force them to provide services they may not be well equipped for.

Additionally, they believe that requiring programs to be multidisciplinary discounts the value and youth development benefits that can come from specializing in one program area, and it ignores the tangible academic benefits that come from playing sports, learning an instrument, or acting, for example. To help ensure OST programs can continue offering specialized programming,a proposed amendment to the city council legislation makes clear that OST providers can focus on any of one of the core purposes of youth development programs. They would not have to provide all of the services implied in the original definition.

    
Out-of-School-Time Programming in the District

    
    
            Location
            Students Living Here
            % with OST Seat Access
            Funding Needed for Universal Access
        

    
            Ward 1
            7,143
            49%
            $9.5 million
        

            Ward 2

            2,578
            87%
            $1.1 million
        

            Ward 3
            5,724
            13%
            $12.4 million
        

            Ward 4
            14,727
            43%
            $21.1 million
        

            Ward 5
            13,061
            47%
            $17.1 million
        

            Ward 6
            6,417
            53%
            $7.5 million
        

            Ward 7
            17,929
            33%
            $30.0 million
        

            Ward 8
            20,653
            33%
            $34.5 million
        

Source: DC Action, D.C. Policy Center

Solutions

Although there is not one answer to reduce chronic absenteeism and generate more engagement in D.C. schools, investment in sports opportunities for all students can play a pivotal role. This could be especially true for high school students, who often don’t see themselves as athletes because they were weeded out at early ages due to costs or ability. A renewed focus on sports may be the most tangible and least coercive way D.C. can encourage a healthier and more engaged student body – if sports meet the needs of students.

Project Play’s Reimagining School Sports Playbook offers ideas to update the traditional high school sports model. Many high schools are unable to deliver sports programs that meet the needs and hopes of students.

Understand your student population

Sport interest surveys are one way that high schools can demonstrate compliance with Title IX. They can be a powerful tool, if utilized. Many schools don’t bother; and, if they do field them, the results are rarely shared with, or easily accessed by, the public. They often are not made available on school websites.

That’s a miss. Schools need to know what students want to participate in to design sport offerings. It can be essential in achieving gender equity, creating systems of accountability, and just building a menu of activities that is most likely to get and keep students physically active. Student voice and choice matter. DCIAA says it regularly collects and monitors data on athlete participation through interest surveys shared with middle and high schools to learn what sports they like and why they do or don’t participate.

In our youth sports survey, the top activities that D.C. high school students said they most want to try are boxing, rock climbing, archery, biking and karate/mixed martial arts. While costs or liability may prevent schools from offering some of those sports, they have a common theme: they’re individual activities. Nationally, more high school students want more casual, fitness-focused activities because the traditional team sports menu doesn’t meet their needs.

Some D.C. schools are meeting student interests with programs such as biking and dance. There are many high-interest, low-cost sports out there. More schools could ask their students about their interests and adjust their priorities to invest more in sports.

Bolster coaching education

High school coaches are among the most important adults in the lives of students. They often spend more time with them than any teacher and can shape students’ ideas about health, education, ethics, personal responsibility and initiative to succeed in society. In our national survey, one in three students said they play school sports because of “a coach who cares about me.”

Unfortunately, many coaches lack the knowledge to make sports a safe, healthy and positive experience for students. The need to better educate coaches – not just one-time training, but continued mentorship – is evident given the pressures that so many adolescents face from so many angles. Nearly half of all U.S. high school students (49%) say they play sports for their emotional well-being and mental health. But it’s not enough to simply say, “Come to school so you can play sports.” Why would students want to play sports – and potentially be incentivized to miss school less – if the coach’s methods don’t align with the student’s interests?

Create intramural and club sports programs

Colleges are well aware of the benefits of intramural sports – classmates against classmates – and club sports led by students. Yet they’re often underprioritized in high schools even though they offer many of the same benefits as interscholastic sports – exercise, teamwork skills, mental health and a sense of belonging to want to attend school.

The benefit of intramural sports in a high school is that a school can effectively increase the number of participants at a much lower cost and with much more local control. Intramural sports remove travel and coordination with other schools from the equation. The school has the ability to set as many competitions or tournaments as desired, or based on what school staffing and facility space allows.

D.C.’s Deputy Mayor for Education office is considering increasing stipends for coaches. That’s needed. At the same time, the District could explore what investments into staff are needed to lead intramural programs that could provide a better bang for the buck as a tool for chronic student absenteeism. Only so many students can make the varsity basketball team. Many more can participate in intramural tournaments against classmates.

DCIAA Athlete Eligibility Standards

High School

Complete all participation forms
GPA of 2.0 or higher in the most recently completed academic term
Age 18 or younger on August 1 of the relevant school year
Been continuously enrolled at the school for at least one calendar year (students are exempt during their first year after middle school)
Have completed less than 8 semesters in high school
Have accrued no more than 6 unexcused absences in the current academic term
Be present in school on the day of an athletic activity to participate on that day

Middle School