Petersburg Borough School District^↗ET was below Alaska's chronic-absence rate in all five years for which the state publishes district figures: 2019 and 2022 through 2025. Its advantage ranged from 6.8 points in 2019 to 19.6 points in 2024.

The latest result was less favorable than the year before. Petersburg's rate rose from 23.8% in 2024 to 29.5% in 2025, a 5.7-point increase. It nevertheless remained 13.3 points below Alaska's 42.8% rate.

Superintendent Robyn Taylor said no single factor explains the district's attendance. "We are a small, close-knit community, and relationships matter," Taylor wrote in an email. "Our staff know our students and families, and when attendance becomes a concern, we are able to reach out and work directly with families."

A small low-income gap

Petersburg's economically disadvantaged rate stayed within three points of the district total in every published year. The exact gap ranged from 2.9 points below the total in 2022 to 2.3 points above it in 2024.

In 2019, the economically disadvantaged rate was 15.8%, nearly identical to the 15.9% total. In 2025, the low-income rate was 27.2%, or 2.4 points below the 29.5% total.

Statewide in 2025, the economically disadvantaged chronic-absence rate was 50.2%, 7.3 points above Alaska's 42.8% total. Across the 51 districts with both rates published, 10 had a gap of at least seven points. Petersburg's gap ranked on the other side of zero because its low-income rate was lower than its overall rate.

Taylor also pointed to supports outside the classroom. Community partners and local organizations work on food insecurity, health and safety, according to the district, which provides free breakfast and lunch to all students. Middle school students are held to the same academic and attendance expectations as high schoolers to take part in home and away events. "For many of our students, activities are a strong connection to school and a motivator to be present and maintain passing grades," Taylor wrote.

The 2025 uptick

Petersburg improved from 37.9% in 2022 to 25.8% in 2023 and 23.8% in 2024 before rising to 29.5% in 2025. The latest increase means the earlier decline cannot be treated as a continuing trend.

Taylor was careful about the increase too. "I would be hesitant to attribute it to any one thing without looking more closely at individual attendance patterns," Taylor wrote, pointing instead to realities of a remote island community that pull students away for days at a time. "Petersburg has limited commercial air and ferry service, so weather, mechanical issues, and cancellations can turn a short trip into several additional days away from school," Taylor wrote. Families also leave for medical care. "Babies cannot be delivered in Petersburg, so expectant mothers have to leave the island prior to delivery," Taylor wrote. When a family has younger school-aged children, it is not uncommon for the whole family to leave together, Taylor added.

Petersburg enrolled 460 students in 2024-25 and 473 in 2025-26. Applying the 5.7-point increase to the published 2024-25 total yields an approximation of about 26 students. That is not a published chronic-absence headcount, and the state data do not identify a cause for the increase.

The supported finding is comparative: Petersburg stayed below the state in each published year, and its low-income rate tracked close to its total. Those data do not establish why, and Taylor drew the same line on the town's best-known industry. "I wouldn't, however, want to say that our fishing economy is a primary reason for either our attendance success or our absences without having data to support that," Taylor wrote.

The district is not treating the comparison as a finish line. Being below the state average "doesn't mean our work is done," Taylor wrote. "Every day a student is away from school is time away from their teachers, peers, and learning."

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