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August 10, 2016 The Skanner Page 9 Health Wellness & Nutrition: BACK TO SCHOOL A Look at Chronic Absenteeism Across America Government data shows the problem of students habitually missing school varies from state to state, with about one-third of students in the nation’s capital absent 15 days or more in a single school year By JENNIFER C. KERR and MEGHAN HOYER Associated Press WASHINGTON — The problem of students ha- bitually missing school varies widely from state to state, with about one- third of students in the nation’s capital absent 15 days or more in a single school year, according to an Associated Press analysis of government statistics. Overall, the national average of chronic ab- senteeism was 13 per- cent, or about 6.5 million students, the Education Department said. “Chronic absenteeism is a national problem,” Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said in a statement Wednesday. “Frequent absences from school can be devastating to a child’s education.” The report was the irst release of chronic absen- tee igures from the de- partment. The Obama administra- tion began a program last fall that now works with states and local groups in 30 communities to identify mentors to help habitually absent kids get back on track. As part of the efort, the White House said Wednesday that a New York-based company, STATE Bags, was donating 30,000 backpacks to children being mentored in the program. Of the 100 largest school districts by en- rollment, Detroit had the highest rate of chronic absenteeism. Nearly 58 percent of students were chronical- ly absent in the 2013-2014 school year. Washington state and Alaska had chronic ab- sentee rates hovering 21st International AIDS Conference Commences on “Mandela Day” Linda Villarosa BAI Contributing Writer FREDDIE ALLEN/BAI/NNPA I t was entirely itting that the 21st International AIDS Con- ference kicked of on July in Durban, South Africa, on “Mandela Day,” a global celebra- tion of the great man’s birthday. In Durban’s cavernous Interna- tional Convention Centre, Mak- gatho’s son, Ndaba, joined his cousin Kweku, and the two spoke movingly of their grandfather’s work and legacy. “Sixteen years ago my grand- father arrived on this stage at the tipping point,” said Kweku Mandela. “Madiba asked us to do something about HIV/AIDS treatment. I’m humbled to stand before you continuing my grand- father’s legacy in my small way,” he said, using the isiXhosa term of endearment Madiba, or fa- ther, that many South Africans use when speaking of the senior Mandela. International superstars Queen Latifah and Com- mon provided an unof- icial kick-of to AIDS 2016 on Saturday with a concert urging the world to “keep the promise and stop AIDS.” At a protest before the event, Latifah, who played an HIV positive mother in the 2007 HBO ilm “Life Support,” marched alongside the mayor of Durban and the late Nkosi Johnson’s adoptive mother. And South Afri- can-born celebrity Charlize Theron made a dazzling appearance at Monday’s opening ceremony. In language ripped from the social justice script, the Acad- emy Award-winning ac- tress and U.N. Messenger for Peace said: A group of people walk past an AIDS memorial in Durban, South Africa. “The real reason we haven’t beaten this epidemic boils down to one simple fact: We value some lives more than others. We love men more than women. Straight love more than gay love. White skin more than Black skin. The rich more than the poor. Adults more than adolescents.” Still, some things remain the same. Largely because of stigma, the epidemic continues to harm those least able to beat it back: poor communities of color and so-called key populations, includ- ing young women and girls, men who have sex with men, trans- gender individuals, sex workers, drug users. “HIV incidence among adults is either stable or increasing,” stated conference co-chair Chris Beyrer, M.D., who also pointed to measurable declines in global AIDS funding. “It is too soon to declare victory.” around one-quarter of students with that level of absences. According to AP’s anal- ysis, girls were just as likely as boys to habitu- ally miss school. Nearly 22 percent of all Ameri- can Indian students were reported as regularly absent, followed by Na- tive Hawaiians at 21 per- cent and black students at 17 percent. Hispanic and white students were close to the national av- erage of 13 percent. Students are regularly missing school for lots of reasons, Balfanz says. Many are poor and could be staying home to care for a sibling or helping with elder care. Others are avoiding school be- cause they’re being bul- lied or they worry it’s not safe. And then, there are some students who sim- ply skip school. Schools should be cre- ating welcoming envi- ronments to make stu- dents feel wanted each day, Balfanz says. They also need to build rela- tionships with the kids who are regularly absent to igure out what’s keep- ing them away, he said. As part of its Civil Rights Data Collection, the department surveyed all public schools in the country, covering over 95,000 schools and 50 million students. Rough- ly one in seven of all K-12 public schools nation- wide reported having not a single chronically absent student that year. Chronic absenteeism is one of several topics covered in the data col- lection. It also looked at school discipline and high-rigor course ofer- ings. Other igures from the report: • Black preschool chil- dren are 3.6 times as likely to get one or more out-of-school suspensions as their white counterparts. • Black children repre- sent 19 percent of pre- schoolers, yet they ac- count for 47 percent of preschool kids getting suspended. • White students make up 41 percent of pre- schoolers, and 28 per- cent of preschool kids with suspensions. • Nationwide, almost half of high schools ofered classes in cal- culus, and more than three-quarters ofered Algebra II. • 33 percent of high schools with substan- tial black and Latino enrollment ofered calculus. That com- pares to 56 percent of high schools with low numbers of black and Latino children that ofered calculus. Simi- lar gaps were seen for physics, chemistry and Algebra II.