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When measles broke out in the west texas Earlier this year, school absences far exceeded the number of children potentially getting sick, according to a study, as students were excluded or kept home by their families to reduce the spread of the disease.
Absenteeism in the Seminole Independent School District, a school system that served students at the center of the outbreak, increased 41% at all grade levels compared to the same period the previous two years, according to Stanford University Study.
The preliminary study, which has not been published or gone through formal peer review, offers a glimpse of the impact on students’ learning from the spread of measles, a highly infectious disease that has spread to communities around the US with low vaccination rates. In Texas and nationally, about two-thirds of measles cases have occurred in unvaccinated children. When measles is spreading, public health officials exclude unvaccinated students from schools.
“The cost of that absence is not just for sick kids, but for all the kids who are kept out of school as a precaution,” said Thomas Dee, a Stanford economist and education professor who co-authored the study.
Measles is spread by air and poses a serious threat to young children. In 2000, due to the widespread use of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines, the disease was declared eradicated in the US. In recent years, more parents have sought relaxation of school requirements for shots, and most states are below the 95% kindergarten vaccination rate that experts say is needed to prevent outbreaks.
In the Seminole Independent School District, only 77% of kindergarteners were vaccinated against measles in the 2024-2025 school year, according to state health department data. A wave of measles there ushered in the United States’ worst measles year in more than three decades, sickening 762 people across Texas in seven months.
This number could have been even higher, as the Texas Department of State Health Services says there were 182 additional probable cases of measles in children around Gaines County in March 2025 that the state excluded from its count due to a lack of information.
Absence extends far beyond confirmed cases of measles
Based on state data, the study estimated that 141 students in the Seminole district had confirmed cases of measles. It found that the increase in school absenteeism was about 10 times greater than what would be expected from those students alone.
State health officials recommend that people with or suspected of having measles should isolate at home for four days after the rash appears. State guidance calls for keeping unvaccinated or otherwise vulnerable students out of school for 21 days after exposure to measles.
Children According to the study, preschool to first grade saw the largest increase in absenteeism — a 71% increase compared to the previous two school years.
Seminole Superintendent Glenn Teal said in a statement that most of the student absences amid the outbreak were due to local health requirements that require children to stay out of school if they have been exposed to someone with measles.
Apart from students who were instructed to stay home, it is unclear how many families may have kept their children out of school as a precaution. But there’s a good argument that parental concern played a role, said Jacob Kirksey, an education policy professor at Texas Tech University, who was not involved in the study but reviewed it.
“If you’re listening to the news or you’re seeing the disease spreading widely, parents will be more hesitant to send their kids to school,” he said.
Many children in other states with outbreaks do not go to school
Other states like South Carolina have also seen increases in school absenteeism due to outbreaks.
More than 165 people — including 127 students from three schools — were in 21-day quarantine as of Tuesday because they were not vaccinated or were otherwise vulnerable to getting sick. Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist for the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said some children have been quarantined twice because of the new cases.
,vaccination This is the best way to stop the disruption that measles is causing to people’s education, employment and other factors in people’s lives in our communities, Bell said.
Missing learning time can have long-term effects on a child’s success. schools They are struggling with learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has also contributed to increased rates of chronic absenteeism.
More frequent absences also put a strain on teachers’ ability to educate their students. Kirksey said most teachers are not trained how to handle instructional pace when a large portion of their students are absent.
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