Native Americans twice as likely to miss school

CASPER, Wyoming (AP) – An analysis of state attendance data shows Native American students are nearly twice as likely to be chronically absent from school than their peers.

The Casper Star Tribune reports that one in every five Wyoming students statewide missed at least 10 percent of the school year in 2012-2013. In comparison, one in three Native American students statewide missed that much school.

National nonprofit Attendance Works spokeswoman Phyllis Jordan says no state has a worse rate of chronic absentees than Wyoming.

A student is considered chronically absent if he or she misses at least 10 percent of the school year. In Wyoming, that is 17.5 days of school, according to the nonprofit.

Jordan says students who don’t attend school regularly are less eager to learn, more likely to fall behind their peers and are at greater risk of dropping out.

Reasons given for student absences range from illness to oversleeping to transportation issues.

On the Wind River Indian Reservation, Arapahoe Tribal code allows an adult to be fined $100 the first time they are convicted of child neglect, which includes not ensuring their child’s regular attendance in school until age 18.

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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com