Hispanic absentee rate surges

More students missing school

Fears of deportation may be causing some Palm Beach County Hispanic students to miss school, officials said Wednesday, pointing to a spike in absenteeism during the first half of the school year.

About 8.5 percent of Hispanic elementary school girls missed at least 11 days of school, up from 6.3 percent the year before. Boys saw a similar surge.

Black and white students in some grades also saw rates go up but not by as great a rate as Hispanics.

The trend continued in middle school and high school. About 3.5 percent of Hispanic middle school boys missed at least 11 days of school in the first half of the year, compared with 2.5 percent of black boys and 2.6 percent of white boys.

“If kids don’t come to school, I don’t care how hard our teachers work, we won’t be able to begin the academic progress we want to see,” Superintendent Robert Avossa said.

Deputy superintendent David Christiansen blamed “unusual attendance patterns due to the present political climate.” Most recently, hundreds of students skipped school on Feb. 16 for the nationwide “Day Without Immigrants,” when there were

symbolic protests to show the importance of foreignborn workers.

He said several schools have also reported high absentee rates on teacher team meeting days, when school starts late or ends early, possibly because parents have trouble arranging their work schedules around the altered school hours.

Outreach workers have been fanning out among elementary schools with high absentee rates, mostly in central Palm Beach County near Interstate 95, to urge parents to send their kids to school, he said.

Christiansen urged Hispanic families not to fear school as a place where law enforcement could round them up for living in the United States without proper documentation. “School is the safest place they can be,” Christiansen said. “They don't need to have that concern.’’

Hispanics are the largest demographic group in the school district, comprising 33 percent of the district’s 190,240 students, compared with 32 percent who are white and 28 percent who are black. District data shows the largest number of students who identify as Hispanic come from Guatemala, followed by Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Brazil and Colombia.

The school district started a campaign this year, “Go To Grow,” encouraging good attendance.

It features announcements by NFL stars who attended Palm Beach County schools.