Nov 18, 2009 10:35 pm US/Central
Some CPS Students Absent For Half The School Year
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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CPS figures show in 2008, Roberto Clemente High School students were absent an average of 71 days, out of about 170 days on the school calendar.
CBS
Some Chicago Public School students are absent from the classroom for 95 days. That's more than half the school year. CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman has been crunching those unbelievable numbers, and they are staggering.
CBS 2 looked into neighborhood schools. It seems Marshall High on Chicago's West Side posted some of the worst attendance numbers. In 2008, the average days absent per student totaled 95. It was 75 at Harper, 72 at Robeson and 71 at Clemente, where this story begins.
It was very busy at Clemente High School Wednesday afternoon. Should it have been busier? Maybe.
CPS figures show in 2008, Clemente students were absent an average of 71 days. That's out of about 170 days on the school calendar.
Student Jasmine Moore said, "If I missed 71 days, there would be no school for me 'cause I would get kicked out."
But fellow student Luis Quinones thought the number was believable.
"Some people get sick," he said. "Some don't want to come to school sometimes."
Over at Marshall High School, the average number was even higher: 95.
Freshman Denisha Perdue thinks she can explain some of the absences.
"Avoiding fights and gangs," she said.
She, however, didn't believe the average number of days missed could be 95, even though she's been in half-empty classes.
The Deputy Editor of "Chicago Catalyst," a school watchdog publication knows something about that.
"When I was at Marshall, what I experienced going to classes was you'd have a different 12 kids every day," said Sarah Karp of Chicago Catalyst. "You'd have a stable five kids, but a lot of kids missing a lot of days."
That was a few years ago, so things could have improved in that time. But did they?
Karp spent months at Marshall for an article she wrote for a school watchdog publication. Back then, the average was 50 days missed per student. That means the stats got worse.
"Oh, they're horrible," said Karp.
CPS says it's more complex than it appears. If a student cuts one or two classes, he's marked as missing half the day. Three or more, and it's the full day. A spokesperson also says a small number of students who miss a large number of days can impact the overall figure.
Karp questioned that.
"If you have a small number of kids absent that much, go get those kids and bring 'em to school if that's the only problem," she said.
Deputy Editor Karp was playing her watchdog role there.
In the schools we looked at, average days absent increased from 2007 to 2008. Karp says it could be because of new, more thorough student-tracking software.
And the dropout rate rose, which means kids who might normally be gone, are counted absent instead. CPS didn't mention either in its paper statement. No word from the district on whether there's been any improvement since 2008.
A Clemente official says campus efforts to improve attendance there are working.
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