During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of thousands of school-aged youngsters disappeared from public school rolls and have not been accounted for since.

According to research by the Associated Press and Stanford University, around 240,000 pupils in 21 states could not be located in any school.

710,000 fewer students attended public schools in the United States during the 2019 and 2022 school years. Countable students had enrolled in private schools, some were homeschooled, and the other pupils had relocated.

During the height of the epidemic, school districts around the nation went door-to-door in an effort to re-engage pupils. However, now that schools have reopened for most students full-time, these efforts have lessened.

A professor of education at Stanford, told the AP, “These are important statistics that indicate we should pay closer attention to kids who have left public schools.”

In the case of some of the missing children, some families have kept their children out of public schools out of dread of COVID-19. Others left the nation, and many still have not returned because they are homeless.

According to the report, the greatest concern now is the effect on children who have missed so much essential learning time – a huge proportion of whom were already academically underperforming.