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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A nationwide day of action by immigrants and their supporters designed to highlight their economic and cultural contributions to the United States last week showed that many students were willing to miss school to show their support.
Though some school district officials predicted the May 1 boycott would have little impact on attendance, pockets of schools saw a dramatic decrease in numbers, data show. In Salt Lake City, the percentage of students absent nearly doubled the day of the protest compared with one week before.
The rate of students absent hit 20.1 percent, up from almost 11 percent April 24.
Of the thousands of students not in school, the majority of them in the Salt Lake District were from the elementary grades. District officials are not sure why that occurred, but speculate they may have stayed home if their parents did because they rely on them for transportation.
Similar trends were reported in Ogden, where more than 1,500 students were absent on the day of the boycott. That's up from 841 the week before. About 44 percent of the district's 12,500 students are Hispanic. School officials says the largest increase in absenteeism also came from elementary school students.
A few schools in the Jordan School District, the state's largest, saw large bumps in absences. Districtwide information was not available this week, but at Midvale Elementary, the school had 44 percent of its students gone on the day of the boycott as opposed to 8 percent the Monday before. Principal Karen Kezerian said the school ran a regular school day.
"We encourage kids always to be in school," she said. "As far as issues of whether they should stay away that's not my call."
At Copper Hills High in West Jordan, a school that is about 13 percent Latino, 10 percent of students were absent Monday, compared with 9 percent April 24. School officials had talked to the kids in small groups and over the intercom about attending school. They explained that students did have a right to voice their opinions and support causes, but they hoped they would come to school and support those causes outside of school time, said Principal Mary Bailey.
In some districts, attendance increased. The 61,000-student Davis School District, which is almost 7 percent Hispanic, saw its attendance numbers go up. About 7 percent of students were absent the day of the boycott. On April 24, 9.3 percent of students were gone. The district didn't have any explanation for the numbers. "We certainly didn't have any concerted effort to keep kids in school," said spokesman Chris Williams.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
