ProJo: In PVD, half the high school students missed at least 10 percent of school days last year. The state officials now in charge say that has to change
Posted: Nov 8, 2019 at 8:34 PM
PROVIDENCE — About half of all Providence high school students missed 18 days of school or more last year.
In some schools, those rates were even higher. At Hope and Central high schools, for example, about 63% of kids were absent at least 18 days, or 10 percent of the 180-day school year.
With Providence schools now under control of the state, officials say improving the attendance of students in the city has to be a priority.
In the district as a whole, 37% of students missed 18 or more days last year, which is considered “chronically absent,” according to the Rhode Island Department of Education. This was the highest rate of chronic absenteeism among traditional public-school districts in the state, and much higher than similar school districts in Massachusetts.
In Boston, 25% of students were chronically absent last year; in Springfield, 23%; and in Worcester, 15%, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
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Courtesy of Providence Journal
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