EDUCATION: STUDENTS SKIP CLASS FOR HOLIDAY

Cape Girardeau school principals saw absenteeism double in most cases Wednesday as families got a jump-start on holiday traveling.

Despite a half-day schedule that ended just after lunch, more than 255 students were absent from the district-sponsored Missouri Preschool Project through ninth grades. Absentee figures from the high school were unavailable Wednesday afternoon.

Overall, attendance didn't appear to stray much from the districtwide average of 94 percent. However, the elementary schools which normally have a 3 percent average absenteeism rate saw an increase to as much as 13 percent absenteeism.

District Superintendent Dr. Dan Steska said planning committees charged with creating the school calendar each year have not considered extending the school holiday to include the full day before Thanksgiving because the districtwide attendance rate isn't negatively affected by the absenteeism rate.

Besides, he said, if classes were canceled, the school day would have to be reinserted elsewhere in the school calendar. The state allows schools to count a half-day of school at least four hours as a whole day in terms of meeting the mandate of the minimum 175-day school year.

No negative impact

Steska said higher student absences didn't negatively impact the district's state funding in most cases because of the district's hold-harmless status, a designation that ensures the district won't receive less per-pupil state aid than it received in 1993.

"If it's eight to ten percent absenteeism, then we would really consider changing the calendar," Steska said, "but there's probably enough families that are positively impacted by having that time right before the holidays in the classroom that it's probably not worth changing the calendar."

Although some absences Wednesday could be attributed to illness, holiday plans probably accounted for the bulk of missing students, principals said.

"Anytime we have a half day it's going to be up," said Franklin Elementary School Principal Julie Davenport. "We're aware of a few going out of town and some have called in sick, but the other half we don't know about."

The higher rate of absences makes having a test impossible in most cases, but principals said they encourage their teachers to conduct classes as usual.

"We use every minute that we can," Davenport said. "Students that are not here will get make-up work. If we knew they were going to be out, some took work with them. We've been working all morning very productively."

Alma Schrader principal Frank Ellis said several teachers at his building opted to teach a holiday curriculum Wednesday. Artwork, creative writing, cooking and other activities all centered around a Thanksgiving theme..

ABSENTEE RATES FOR CAPE SCHOOLS

Alma Schrader Elementary School

• Absentee rate: 43 out of 450 students
• 9.6 percent

Blanchard Elementary School (includes Missouri Preschool Project enrollment)

• Absentee: 43 out of 492 students
• 8.7 percent

Clippard Elementary School

• Absentee rate: 32 out of 423 students
• 7.6 percent

Franklin Elementary School

• Absentee rate: 40 out of 307 students
• 13 percent

Jefferson Elementary School

• Absentee rate: 33 out of 427 students
• 7.7 percent

Louis J. Schultz School

• Absentee rate: 23 of 341 students
• 6.7 percent

Central Junior High School

• Absentee rate: 39 of 635 students
• 6.1 percent

Central High School

figures unavailable