Candice Towell/Associated PRess Gilbert Cortez helps lead people in prayer at the Bruce R. Thompson Federal Courthouse during a rally against proposed changes in the United States immigration law Monday in Reno.
About 150 students more than normal missed school Monday at Carson High School, bringing the number absent in excess of 15 percent of the total student population.
It is not clear if the additional students stayed at home in conjunction with a nationwide immigrant protest of work, business and other functions to show the impact of their absences, according to Donna Tuttle, attendance secretary at Carson High,
"We've had some parents call out and excuse the (kids) in advance," Tuttle said. "They don't have to tell us why they're excusing them. They can say they're sick."
The average daily number of students absent is about 220, but Monday that number swelled to about 370. The population at Carson High School is 2,398.
When parents fail to call the attendance office in advance about their children being out for the day, they are required to send in a note excusing their child's absence within subsequent days. The number of absences is not tallied until the end of the day.
"It's pretty hard to say (if there are absences related to the protest)," said CHS Principal Fred Perdomo early Monday. "There're students absent every day. There's no indication that the absences are connected to the protest."
Whether or not a student has an excused or unexcused absence, it can effect their grade. Eight absences in any one class results in a no-grade.
"It's not like some people think - that you hit eight absences in one class and you lose credit in all of your classes," Perdomo said. "No, it would be in that particular class. If you look at students' profiles, (attendance) varies for class to class. It may be they schedule doctor's appointments during the same class."
Perdomo said the school did not send home paperwork or make any announcements in advance regarding Monday's protest.
"(Students) may not have attended today (because of the protest)," Perdomo said. "But we haven't heard anything."
Wrapped in the American flag, Alex Valdivia, 13, said he took the day off of school at South Tahoe Middle School and showed up for the protest with his friends.
At a rate of $28.82 per student, the school district lost $18,790 in reimbursements in one day.
South Tahoe High School counted 184 absences, South Tahoe Middle School - 233 and Tahoe Valley Elementary - 35.
The schools get occasional absences every day, but Monday's absences were presumably a sign of defiance over federal immigration proposals, Superintendent Jim Tarwater pointed out.
Of the four schools with significant absences, over a third of Bijou Elementary School students failed to show up to class. Many of the estimated quarter of the 23,609 residents in South Lake Tahoe population that are Hispanic live in the Bijou area.
Still, the 200 student absences surprised Tarwater because of the age of the students.
"These students are young," said Tarwater, who believes parents took their children out of school for the day to take part in the 'Day Without Immigrants.'
"We don't like to lose the money, but it's also the first day of our statewide testing," Tarwater said. The scheduled tests were postponed to today.
• Reporter Susan Wood contributed to this story. Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.
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