D.C. schools are facing questions from federal prosecutors about something families should be able to take for granted: whether attendance records and graduation decisions can be trusted.

A special grand jury convened by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is examining the District’s oversight of young people, with school personnel being questioned about absences and graduation practices.

The investigation does not establish that anyone committed a crime. It does put the paperwork behind those diplomas under fresh scrutiny.

Recent reports indicate preliminary figures for the 2025-26 school year show that 50.4% of D.C. high school students were classified as chronically truant, including both traditional public schools and public charter schools.

At Ballou High School, the rate was reported at 84.4%; at Anacostia, it was 84.1%. These percentages describe students who have crossed an absence threshold, not the proportion of school days missed.

Sources indicate that prosecutors have questioned teachers and school staff regarding truancy, graduation rates, and attendance records, with some connections to Ballou.

This raises a basic question for those overseeing the system: when students repeatedly miss class, who follows up, and what happens before a student’s high-school diploma is awarded?

There is reason to ask this question carefully. The District has already investigated improper graduation practices once, and its own findings were serious.

In a November 2018 review, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education summarized four key findings from an earlier Alvarez & Marsal investigation: credit recovery had been misused at most DCPS high schools; attendance-related grading rules were rarely followed; central-office support and oversight were inadequate; and most high schools had developed a culture of passing and graduating students who had failed to satisfy specific requirements.

The follow-up went beyond promises to improve. OSSE requested supporting documents for 218 students certified as 2018 graduates, representing 10% of that graduating list. It deliberately included a higher proportion of students with extensive unexcused absences and those from comprehensive high schools.

This history explains why attendance records and graduation certifications deserve examination together. A graduation rate measures one outcome; it cannot, by itself, show whether the rules behind each diploma were followed.

Those findings pertain to earlier school years. They do not establish that similar misconduct occurred in 2025-26 or that any current employee is guilty of wrongdoing.

There is also a measurement issue: The Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s attendance page for 2024-25 defines chronic truancy as at least 10 full-day, unexcused absences in a school year. It defines chronic absenteeism separately: missing at least 10% of enrolled days, whether excused or unexcused.

Ten missed days and 10% of an enrolled school year are different thresholds, particularly for students enrolled for only part of the year. The agency also describes a validation process involving three certifications by local education agencies before attendance data is finalized.

By contrast, recent reports indicate that preliminary figures for the 2025-26 truancy rates use a 10% unexcused-absence threshold based on information attributed to OSSE. This definition requires clarification before drawing firm year-to-year conclusions.

High absence rates cannot be used to assume that particular graduates were ineligible for their diplomas. That requires student-level records, course requirements, and evidence about how decisions were made.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office stated that its immediate focus is the upcoming school year, and that school data will remain publicly available.

Publishing these numbers is useful. Families also deserve to know what schools do when a child stops showing up, what support reaches that child, and whether graduation requirements are enforced consistently.

The federal inquiry has not answered those questions yet. The records should.