Students who skipped school may be punished
by Mary Bustamante on Apr. 11, 2006, under Education, Local
The crowd of about 15,000 demonstrators was "very peaceful and well-organized," Tucson police Capt. <strong>Brett Klein</strong> said of yesterday's event. "It was, in large part, a safe event."
Thousands of students could have unexcused absences if their parents called their schools to say they weren’t going to be in class so they could participate in yesterday’s immigration rally.
“The state has specific codes for excused absences: sickness or personal or family business,” said Kelly Langford, senior academic officer for Tucson Unified School District. “They don’t have one for protesting or marching.”
If the parents said students would be out for personal or family business, it will be excused, he said. For unexcused absences, teachers decide whether to let students make up work. Discipline for unexcused absences varies by school.
About 11,500 TUSD students didn’t show up for classes and an additional 210 left Tucson High Magnet, Rincon High and Pueblo High Magnet yesterday, Langford said.
Unlike previous march days, when hordes of students left schools, yesterday wasn’t a problem.
“Basically, kids just didn’t come, so it wasn’t disruptive to the educational process,” Langford said.
While officials couldn’t say how many of TUSD’s 60,000 students normally are out on any given day, spokeswoman Estella Zavala said the numbers yesterday were “higher than normal, for sure.”
At Sunnyside, more than 3,600 high school and elementary students were out yesterday, compared to about 1,380 last Monday, said spokeswoman Miski Nowak. She had no middle school figures.
TUSD had about 520 teachers out yesterday, but Zavala said that was average. All classrooms were covered by substitute teachers or district central staff.
Davis Bilingual Magnet School had none of its teachers at school yesterday, and slightly fewer than 60 percent of its students. Parents were informed last week that regular teachers would be taking “personal days” off yesterday, officials said.
Principal Christopher Loya, not supporting or condemning absent teachers, acknowledged Davis’s “historical activism” and said it “plays a part in the type of school we have here and the type of education we provide. We make sure there are informed teachers who present both sides of issues to students.”
At Tucson High Magnet, 52 teachers were out; at Tolson Elementary, 13; and at Pistor Middle School, 12. For teachers who took a personal day, that is their prerogative, Zavala said.
“That’s what’s allowed under the consensus agreement, and so there should be no repercussions,” she said.
At Sunnyside, only 62 teachers were absent yesterday. That’s 35 percent fewer than last Monday.
“We had expressed our concern to teachers and all staff about how important it is to be in school, especially during the AIMS tests,” said Sunnyside Superintendent Raúl Bejarano. “The number of staff members out on this significant day was minimal.”
Demonstrators of all ages came along for the ride up 10th Avenue to the rally at Armory Park in downtown.
Pueblo High School students Patsy Padilla, 16 (left), and Yadel Hernandez, 15, cheer the crowd during the march.
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