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Tag: absenteeism

  • 30% of Durham students stayed home during Border Patrol enforcement surge

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    DURHAM

    School attendance continued to drop this week with nearly 30% of Durham students staying home during the Border Patrol enforcement operation in the Triangle.

    Figures released late Friday by Durham Public Schools show that the number of students who were absent rose by 68% during the week. On Wednesday, 9,209 of Durham’s 30,988 students were absent, meaning 29.72% of the district’s enrollment stayed home.

    “We understand that some families may keep their children home out of concern,” the district said in a letter sent to families earlier this week. “While regular attendance is essential to student success, we also recognize the complex decisions families are making right now.

    “If a student misses school due to family concerns related to the current situation, please contact the front office. Our district leaders have provided guidance for how to support families who may miss school due to extenuating circumstances.”

    More than 200 Durham School of the Arts students stage a walkout Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, to protest Border Patrol and ICE activity in Durham. The walkout lasted less than an hour.
    More than 200 Durham School of the Arts students stage a walkout Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, to protest Border Patrol and ICE activity in Durham. The walkout lasted less than an hour. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com

    Border Patrol roundup boosts absences in Triangle, Charlotte

    Attendance has been down this week both in Charlotte and the Triangle during the Border Patrol’s operations. At least 370 people in the Charlotte area and at least a dozen people in the Triangle have been detained, according to the Department of Homeland Security and immigration rights groups.

    On Monday, Durham reported that 5,482 students were absent before the immigration enforcement surge began. That’s 17.69% of the district’s enrollment.

    Absences soared on Tuesday during the first day of Border Patrol operations in the Triangle. Durham said 8,561 students, or 27.63% of students were absent. That’s up from the previously reported figure of 20.9% of students out that day.

    Durham saw a 68% increase in the number of absences between Monday and Wednesday. Only 70.28% of Durham students attended classes Wednesday.

    Last school year, 35.2% of Durham’s students were Hispanic/Latino.

    The Wake County school system has not yet released attendance totals for Wednesday. But the district said that 19,471 students were absent on Tuesday, accounting for 10.79% of its student population.

    In contrast, Wake said that only 11,630 students were absent on Oct. 27 when 6.85% were out. That’s a more normal absence total

    Groups, students rally to support families

    Durham Public Schools Strong, Durham For All and other community groups encouraged people to join a school-based team this week to welcome families as they dropped their children off at school.

    People gather as a part of a “School-Based Care and Protection Team,” organized through Durham Public School Strong, Durham For All and other groups, to show support for students on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Durham, N.C.
    People gather as a part of a “School-Based Care and Protection Team,” organized through Durham Public School Strong, Durham For All and other groups, to show support for students on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Durham, N.C. Kaitlin McKeown The News & Observer

    Team members gathered near the front of schools holding signs, leading chants and songs, verifying potential ICE sightings at schools and collecting support requests from other parents.

    On Thursday, more than 200 Durham School of the Arts students held a protest in front of the school against the Border Patrol and ICE, The News & Observer previously reported.

    On Friday, students from several high schools planned to hold a protest in downtown Durham.

    Downtown Durham Inc. rescheduled Friday’s annual tree-lighting ceremony to support those who may feel unsafe coming out during the current political climate, The N&O previously reported.

    This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM.

    Related Stories from Raleigh News & Observer

    T. Keung Hui

    The News & Observer

    T. Keung Hui has covered K-12 education for the News & Observer since 1999, helping parents, students, school employees and the community understand the vital role education plays in North Carolina. His primary focus is Wake County, but he also covers statewide education issues.

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    T. Keung Hui

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  • Child labor violations on the rise, problem could get worse: report

    Child labor violations on the rise, problem could get worse: report

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    (NewsNation) — Child labor violations are increasing, and over two dozen states have made moves that are exacerbating the issue, a recent report by Governing for Impact, the Economic Policy Institute and Child Labor Coalition says. 

    “Many assume that children working long hours in dangerous jobs is a thing of the distant past in the United States,” the report’s authors said. “Unfortunately, they’re wrong.”

    Injury rates almost doubled among workers under 18 between 2011 and 2020, the report said.

    The Fair Labor Standard Act, passed by Congress in 1938, authorized some restrictions on child labor. Still, the report says, in recent years there have been “noted increases” in child labor violations, workplace injuries and chronic absenteeism from school. 

    In FY 2023, the Department of Labor concluded 955 investigations and reported that it found a 14% increase in violations from the previous year. Nearly 5,800 children were working in ways that didn’t follow the laws, and the department assessed more than $8 million in penalties, an 83% increase from FY 2022.

    Organizations, in their report, detailed the stories of a 16-year-old boy who was killed while deep cleaning a piece of machinery in the deboning area of a Mississippi chicken processing plant. Proper supervision and precautions failed him, the report said.

    Another teen near Orlando, Florida, died at the construction site of a two-story house in 2019 when he fell from a height of 8 feet off a step ladder while holding a 24-foot flooring joist. The joist fell on the boy’s chest and killed him, the report said.

    A number of factors can lead to youth getting hurt on the job, including which occupation they’re employed in, the report said. Agriculture is an industry where the risks to child workers are the highest and regulations are the weakest, for example, according to the report.

    “Instead of addressing the troubling increase in workplace injuries among children, industry-aligned groups like those behind Project 2025 have actually proposed to change federal regulations to let more young people work in more dangerous jobs,” the report said.

    Project 2025 is a nearly 1,000-page handbook from conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, as well as other organizations, that serves as a guide for what they want done under a Republican presidential administration.

    While Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, dozens of people who worked closely with him during his time in the White House are involved in it, a fact Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign has pointed out. 

    Authors of Project 2025  wrote that some young adults “show an interest in inherently dangerous jobs.”

    “Current rules forbid many young people, even if their family is running the business, from working in such jobs. This results in worker shortages in dangerous fields and often discourages otherwise interested young workers from trying the more dangerous job,” Project 2025 authors said. “With parental consent and proper training, certain young adults should be allowed to learn and work in more dangerous occupations. This would give a green light to training programs and build skills in teenagers who may want to work in these fields.”

    Along with those in the industry pushing for less child labor protections, legislators in more than 30 states have taken steps to weaken them since 2021, Governing for Impact, the Economic Policy Institute and Child Labor Coalition wrote in their report.

    “Citing labor shortages and under pressure from industry groups, these states have taken steps to: allow children under 18 — often much younger — to work in dangerous occupations, limit employer liability when their child workers are injured, and let employers schedule children for overnight shifts,” the report said.

    What can be done to prevent child labor violations?

    Since 2021, the Department of Labor has “ramped up enforcement” of current federal regulations and given employers who have committed “some of the worst abuses” the maximum penalties, the report notes. However, “the regulations themselves are out of date and insufficient.” the report said. 

    “Even with full-throated enforcement of these regulations, it’s not enough to sort of protect kids from what’s going on now in the economy,” Reed Shaw, policy counsel at Governing for Impact and co-author of the report, told The Guardian. 

    Report authors had some suggestions for changes the department can make. These include expanding the list of occupations deemed too hazardous for workers under 18 years old; increasing protections for child workers in hazardous agricultural jobs; and issuing regulations prohibiting employers from scheduling certain child workers for overnight shifts, as well as requiring rest breaks and one-day off a week for others.

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    Cassie Buchman

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  • Limiting plea agreements, increasing consequences: How DC’s mayor wants to handle absenteeism – WTOP News

    Limiting plea agreements, increasing consequences: How DC’s mayor wants to handle absenteeism – WTOP News

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    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has unveiled a plan to address truancy and absenteeism and put in place more serious consequences for middle schoolers caught with drugs or guns on school grounds.

    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has unveiled a plan to address truancy and absenteeism and put in place more serious consequences for middle schoolers caught with drugs or guns on school grounds.

    The proposal, called the “Utilizing Partnerships, Local Interventions for Truancy and Safety Amendment Act of 2024,” addresses the city’s approach to accountability and intervention.

    The plan, which is subject to the D.C. Council’s approval, comes as schools districts across the region grapple with chronic absenteeism and truancy. Students who miss 10% or more of school days in an academic year, with or without an excuse, are considered chronically absent. Truancy applies to kids who miss school without an excuse.

    “We don’t need to have conversations about extended days or extended years,” said Paul Kihn, the city’s deputy mayor for education. “We need our students to be in schools, where they’re safe and where they’re learning.”

    The legislation calls on the city’s Department of Human Services to intervene before students and families are referred either to court or the city’s Child and Family Services Agency. Sometimes students miss school because of a lack of housing or food security, and Bowser’s office anticipates that DHS can address those obstacles.

    If a student is still absent after that intervention, the court would be required to take action.

    Laura Green Zeilinger, the city’s DHS director, said a team within the agency will be created to do the initial assessment of a family’s needs, but won’t necessarily be managing those cases on a long-term basis. The agency will also expand its teams for other programs to address what it expects to be increasing demands, Zeilinger said.

    Students who are 5 to 13 years old will be referred to DHS when they reach 10 unexcused absences, Kihn said, as will 14 to 17-year-old students who reach 15 unexcused absences.

    Once the younger group reaches 20 unexcused absences, students will have cases referred to the CFSA for an investigation into educational neglect, Kihn said.

    After 25 unexcused absences, older students will have their cases referred to the Office of the Attorney General.

    When the OAG gets the referral, it’s now required to take action. It can require participation in a program for truant students, mandate a family group conference with DHS or refer the student to court through a parent participation order.

    Currently, when cases are referred to either court or the OAG, Kihn said “nothing happens. And so this legislation is disallowing that.”

    “What we’re trying to do here is strengthen where we see gaps in the system right now,” Kihn said at a briefing with reporters this week.

    In a statement, a spokesman for Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the office received the proposed legislation Wednesday morning and is still reviewing it.

    To address accountability, Bowser’s proposal would limit diversion programs for students charged with a dangerous crime while armed or having a knife, pistol, firearm or imitation firearm.

    The OAG spokesman said last year, the office diverted 15 cases of violent crime out of 751.

    The proposed plans would also narrow the scope of young people charged with violent crimes who are eligible for plea agreements.

    If a child is charged with a violent crime, the bill would require parents or guardians to participate in a required family group conference and rehabilitative services with the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

    “We haven’t shifted our feeling on diversion at all,” said Lindsey Appiah, deputy mayor for public safety and justice. “We believe in diversion. We believe that it’s appropriate for certain young people, but we are seeing an increase in young people who are involved in more serious crime, and dangerous, violent crime and gun crime in our city.”

    Eduardo Ferrer, policy director at Georgetown’s Juvenile Justice Initiative, said he has concerns “about the mayor’s attempts to limit the discretion of the Office of the Attorney General. I don’t think that’s appropriate, I don’t think that will be productive.”

    Mayor Bowser, at a news conference Wednesday, said the city is not “happy with young people who aren’t being held accountable. We’re also not happy with the level of transparency around what happens to them.”

    Some elements of the proposed legislation create stricter consequences for students of certain ages. Middle school leaders can now suspend students for drugs, weapons and sexual harassment. The current policy, Kihn said, “effectively treats elementary schools and middle schools in exactly the same way, and then treats high schools differently.”

    “Our goal is that every student is in school every day,” Ferrer said. “So as we’re making progress, or hopefully making progress on the chronic absentee pieces of the bill by involving DHS earlier, we shouldn’t be taking steps backwards on our approach to school discipline.”

    The proposal also creates a school campus option as an alternative to suspension, Bowser’s office said.

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    Scott Gelman

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