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HOW TO FIXBUFFALO’S SCHOOLS

Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News

The quiet, slender 15-year-old had missed so much school

that he earned an unwanted distinction: An attendance

teacher was visiting his house this Friday afternoon. ¶ The

purpose of Nelis Henderson’s visit: Talk to the teen and his

mother to determine why he misses school, offer them resources, and de-

vise a plan to get him to regularly attend Bennett High School. ¶ He tells

Henderson it’s just too hard to wake up early enough to get to school. ¶

“It’s not easy,” he says, his arms crossed as he leans against the kitchen

counter. “I’m so tired. I’m not saying I do it on purpose. I’m just tired.” ¶ His mother tried just about everything.

She took away his phone and other electronics, canceled Christmas, reached out to the school and even worked

with Child Protective Services. For a while, she had a family friend come every morning to try to wake her son up.

Once a week, a counselor from a local mental health agency visits the house. Nothing seems to help. ¶ Chronic

truants like her son abound in the Queen City. ¶ Nearly half of the students in the Buffalo Public Schools last year

missed more than 18 days – nearly an entire month of classes.

IN BUFFALO SCHOOLS,ABSENTEEISM IS RAMPANT

Buffalo schools have an epidemic of chronic truancy, and students face fewconsequences for missing class. How can the district get kids to attend?

B Y M A R Y B . PA S C I A K / N E W S S T A F F R E P O R T E REighthin a series

ComingnextSunday:How LosAngeles getsmore kids tocome toschool

One out of every six studentsthroughout the Buffalo PublicSchools missed more than sevenweeks of school. Above, close to halfthe algebra class was missingat Bennett High School on this day.

| S E E S C H O O L S O N P A G E A 6

By Anne NevilleN E WS STA F F R EPORT ER

University at Buffalo administratorsand Buffalo police have taken steps tocrack down on rowdy, frequently drunkenstudents who have disturbed the peace ofpeople who live in University Heights, theresidential neighborhood near the SouthCampus.

In the last twoweeks, the followinghashappened:

• Buffalo police made multiple arrestsof young people in the neighborhood.

•Theuniversity suspended23studentswho were arrested and ordered 30 oth-ers who were cited but not arrested to docommunity service in University Heights.

• University police and of�cials fromthe of�ce of Off-Campus Student Servicesvisited six off-campus houses where par-ties had been held and warned the resi-dents against future incidents.

• UB instituted patrols to clean up lit-ter in the neighborhood after weekendnights.

• UB of�cials announced a plan tomove the university police substation to amore central location on the South Cam-pus.

• Top UB of�cials, including presidentSatish K. Tripathi, met with members of

UB, city takesteps to curbwild students

in HeightsTop university officials

meet with residents’ group

By Dan Herbeck and Lou MichelN E WS STA F F R EPORT ER S

DNA evidence does not con�rm awoman’s allegations that Patrick Kaneraped her, four sources familiar with thecase told The Buffalo News.

DNA tests taken from a rape kit con-ducted on the womanshowed no trace of Kane’sDNA was found in thewoman’sgenital areaoronher undergarments.

The lack of that DNAevidence does not neces-sarily mean a sexual as-sault did not occur, legalexperts say, and the evi-dence involved in this type

of investigation typically consists of morethan just DNA. The investigation contin-ues, and Kane has not been charged withany crime.

Authorities are examining other evi-dence trying to determine what happened

Test resultsspur questionsin Kane case

PatrickKane

See Crackdownon Page A2

See Kaneon Page A2

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A6 The Buffalo News/Sunday, September 20, 2015 A7

HOW TO FIXBUFFALO’S SCHOOLS

B U F F A L O N E W S . C O M / H O W T O F I X

But even that figure masks the depth ofthe problem. One out of every six studentsthroughout the district missed more than20 percent of the school year. The problemis most severe among the city’s high schoolstudents; one-third of the students missedat least 20 percent of the school year.

Across grade levels, chronic absentee-ism was most prevalent among Hispan-ic students, while black students had thelowest rate of chronic absenteeism, ac-cording to an analysis of last year’s atten-dance provided by the district.

Attendance proves challenging in justabout every urban school district, whereconcentrations of poverty present count-less obstacles for students and their fami-lies. But in Buffalo far more students misscritical amounts of school than in manyother cities, from Baltimore to Los Ange-les. One national expert who worked withthe district said Buffalo’s absenteeism isamong the worst she’s seen.

“In Buffalo high schools, you have a se-rious issue,” said Hedy Chang, the founderof Attendance Works. “You have a cultureof not going to school.”

Reasons why students miss schoolvary, but many are tied to poverty. Healthproblems. The need to care for youngersiblings. Juggling school with work or par-enting. The fear of violence in the neigh-borhood or at school.

Nobody knows how much each ofcountless factors affects attendance.

What is clear, though, is where thisleads: low graduation rates. Chronic ab-senteeism more strongly predicts a stu-dent’s chances of graduating from highschool than test scores or discipline prob-lems, studies have shown. In Buffalo, onlyabout half of high school students gradu-ate, only one in 10 elementary students isconsidered proficient in English, and onlyone in six is proficient in math.

The district has taken steps to addresschronic absenteeism. District officials re-instated about a dozen attendance teach-ers. Through Say Yes to Education, the dis-trict added a family support specialist inevery school. Mental health clinics openedin many schools. Incentives and rewardsare offered to motivate students to cometo school.

But students know it’s unlikely thatanyone in the schools will hold them ac-countable if they miss classes.

What’s more, some district and statepolicies appear to almost encourage tru-ancy. In years past, students risked get-ting detention if they missed school. Thatno longer happens. And in previous years,they couldn’t sit for Regents exams if theymissed more than 28 days. That no longerhappens, either.

In addition, teachers are required togive every student quarterly grades abovea certain number – regardless of whetherstudents show up or do adequate work. Sowhen students do well early in the schoolyear, many skip the rest of the year and stillpass based on the averaging of quarterlygrades.

As the 15-year-old’s mother found out,the district possesses few options if a stu-dent simply does not want to go to school.

Sitting in thekitchenof the teen’shomenear the Cheektowaga border, Hendersonoffers help in many forms: an alarm clock,a ride to school, after-school tutoring toget caught up in his classes, a program toset him up with a part-time job.

He wants none of it, refusing to sign anagreementsayinghewill attendschool.

“I don’t like that stuff,” the teen tellsHenderson, looking at the cellphone in hishand more than he looks at her.

The best that Henderson can get is averbal agreement that he will come toschool every day for two weeks.

“I will work with you,” Henderson tellshim. “Iwill take twoweeks, forastart.Canwe shake on it?”

He shakes his head.“No?” she asks. “Just verbal? All right.”But when Monday comes, he is not in

school.

Worse than it seems

The attendance problem in Buffalo isso bad that in some cases, school officialsschedule far more students for classesthan a room can accommodate.

“I have 44 students in my first periodclass. I only have 25 desks,” said Marc Bru-no, who teaches social studies at RiversideInstitute of Technology. “They bank onkids not coming.”

Two years ago, 25 students were as-signed tohisfirst-periodclass.Onaverage,eachmissed72days–more thanthreeanda half months – according to the daily at-

tendance logs that Bruno keeps in a thickthree-ring binder.

“I teach Global (History and Geogra-phy) 10. I’ve got to teach 10,000 years ofworld history in eight months,” he said,then points at the stack of absenteeismdata he has accumulated over the pastcouple of years. “If you look at that, howcan they possibly be successful?”

Test results underscore his point:Looking at results from 10 Regents examsthroughout thedistrict twoyearsago, two-thirds of students with satisfactory atten-dance passed an exam, on average – com-pared to only one-third of students whomissed seven weeks or more.

“You’ve just got to be here to pass – thework’s not that hard,” said Destiny Blue, aBennett senior last year.

And as bad as the attendance num-bersare, theydonot include themore than36,000 days of school from which studentswere suspended last year – about one dayfor every student in the district, on aver-age. Schools in New York State cannotcount suspensions as absences.

But while attendance more stronglypredicts a student’s chances of graduatingfrom high school than test scores, suspen-sions, or just about anything else, urbandistricts like Buffalo still struggle.

“Poverty is a big indicator of absentee-ism,” said Chang, the national expert onattendance. “It creates a lot of barriers togetting to school.”

And for students in poverty, the moreschool they miss, the harder it is for themto get caught up.

“Low-income families don’t have theskills to help kids make up for the time loston task or the resources to pay for tutor-ing,” she said. “If those kids miss too muchschool, they become disillusioned. Theymay be in class, but they can’t follow what’sgoing on. By middle school, they may notevenshowupbecausethey’renotengaged.”

Sweet talk is only tool

State law requires that children attendschool until they reach 16, and Buffalo pol-icy requires that they attend until 17. Butthere is little the district can do if studentsdon’t show up every day.

“At the end of the day, by not havingany consequences, we are dooming thesestudents to a life of poverty,” Bruno said.“This is the only chance they have.”

“We’re trying tocreateemployablepeo-ple, and our policies are telling them theydon’t have to show up,” said John Bihr, ascience teacheratRiverside. “Wearecreat-ing unemployable people.”

Suspending kids for not coming toschool is counterproductive, academicsanctions have been watered down andevenreportinga family toChildProtectiveServices has limited utility unless thereare more serious problems involved.

And kids know it.It had been weeks since Riverside staff-

ers met with one 15-year-old who missed alotof school.Hepromised tostart showingup,but continues to stayhomeplayingvid-eo games while his father is at work.

Despite the family’s modest means, thefather recently bought the boy an iPad.The father also has been spending moretime lately with his girlfriend, with whomhe has a new baby.

Now, attendance teacher Ana Rivera isback at the boy’s home, a two-unit houseone block from Niagara Street, wonderingwhy he wasn’t in class.

“Youwentoneday.Oneor twodays.Andthenyoudidn’tgoback,”Riverapresseshim.

The boy appears unfazed, listening butnot reacting visibly, standing in the foyerof his house, wearing a T-shirt and shortson a frigid winter day.

After coming to the United States fromBurma seven years ago, his father is essen-tially all the family that the boy has here.Rivera mentions calling CPS and the trou-ble it could get the father into, but the teenapparently knows the rules.

“Do you understand the trouble you’regettingyourfatherinto?”Riveraaskstheboy.

“Yeah,” he says.Rivera tries a different tack.“Is it fair toDadthathehastomisswork

and go downtown and explain to a judgewhy you don’t go to school? You don’t care.You don’t care much for Dad, do you?”

“Not much,” he says.“Why don’t you care?” Rivera asks.“BecauseI’macarelessperson,”hetellsher.A call to CPS is one of the few conse-

quences that anyone can threaten for achronic truant. Educational neglect – ex-cessive absences, when a parent contrib-utes to the problem or fails to address it– constitutes a reportable offense.

But many school officials are reluctantto call CPS for excessive absences. Unlessa child is found to be in physical danger,it is unlikely that the county will take ac-tion. In extreme cases, CPS could remove achild and place him in foster care, but thatoutcome is rare for chronic truants.

“I don’t like making that call unless Ifeel it’s a lack of parenting,” said Rivera,who estimated she called CPS about 15times a year. “That’s an invasive thing todo to a parent. They start showing up andlooking in your refrigerator.

“And CPS – what can they do? Nothing.”Rivera lectures the teen about the need

to finish his education so that he will beable to get a decent job to support himselfin a few years. She asks if she will see himin school on Monday.

If he arrives late, he complains, he willhave to sit in the auditorium until the nextclass period begins.

Rivera makes him an offer: If he comesin late, he can come directly to her office,and she will walk him to his class – no sit-ting in the auditorium.

“Do you want me to have breakfast onMonday for you?” she asks him.

He doesn’t.“’CauseI’llmakecoffeeorteaifyouwant.”

Counterproductive policy

Buffalo’s current approach to atten-dance represents a significant shift froma decade or so ago. In fact, ask a veteranteacher what has been the biggest changewith regard to attendance in the past 10years, and the answer will likely be: Thedistrict eliminated its 28-day rule.

That change illustrates how much thedistrict’s own policies contribute to thefact that so many students miss so manydays of school.

Buffalo used to require high school stu-dents to attend at least 85 percent of class-es during the year to be eligible to sit forthe Regents exam in any given subject –a necessary step for accruing the creditsneeded to graduate. That meant that anystudent who missed more than 28 days ofa class could not take the exam.

Students knew when they were edgingclose to28absences, teachers say, and theywould start showing up again.

Several years ago, though, the state Ed-ucation Department issued guidance say-ing students could not be prevented fromtaking Regents exams, district officialssay. So, while the 28-day rule is still on thebooks, it is no longer enforced.

“You can’t have a policy in which you’repunitive and keeping students from tak-ingRegentsexamsorgettingcredit forRe-gentscourses,” saidWillKeresztes,districtassociate superintendent.

That’s not the only policy change thatmanyteachersandadministratorsquestion.

Teachersarenotallowedtogivestudentsin third throughsixthgradeanything lowerthan a 70 on their report card in each mark-ing period, under district rules for promot-ingstudents to thenextgrade.

So, although those students need a finalaverageof75orhighertoadvancetothenextgrade, it’s possible to attain that averagejust by earning an 80 in the first two mark-ing periods. Then, even if a student rarelycomes to school the second half of the year,he or she will still receive a 70 on the reportcard for that part of the year – and have ahigh enough average to be promoted.

For students in grades seven to 12, thelowest grade they can get on a report cardis a 50 for the first three marking periods,under the same district regulation. Stu-dents need a 65 average to pass the course.

“If youhave two80sandtwo50s, you’regoing topass thatcourse,”oneadministra-tor said. “You’re not going to show up. Thekids know this.”

Even the way schools take attendancecontributes to – and masks the severityof – the problem. High school late arrivalssign inandare thencountedasbeingpres-ent for the day, for record-keeping purpos-es, even if they arrive at 1 p.m. or later.

Photos by Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News

Bennett High School Principal Bert Stevenson talks with late-arriving students in the school auditorium where they must wait until the next class begins. In an effort to improveattendance, Stevenson places the most at-risk seniors into one of two support homerooms where they are assigned mentors who regularly check on them.

See Schoolson Page A8

Bennett High Schoolattendance teacherNelis Hendersonchecks on a truantstudent. Once shemakes contact,Henderson talks to theparents and studentand offers a plan toencourage attendance.Last year, almost halfof the city’s studentsmissed more than 18days, nearly an entiremonth of classes.Above, a pin given forhigh attendance.

DISTRICT TAKES STEPS TO ADDRESS CHRONIC ABSENTEEISMSCHOOLS • from A1

A culture of not going to school / Student absenteeism in the Buffalo Public Schools 2014-15

Kindergarten 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 9th6th 10th7th 11th8th 12th

Students missing 9 to 17 days Students missing 18 to 35 days Students missing 36 or more days

28%

33%

16%

30% 30% 31% 30% 30%30% 29% 29%

13%11% 11% 11% 11%

15% 16%

10%

29%28% 29% 29%27% 28%28%

19% 20% 19% 18%

31%

“One reason Bennett students are not graduating is not because they’re not passing the exam, but because they’re not passingthe class. They’re not passing the class because they’re not coming to school.” – Bert Stevenson, principal

23% 23% 23% 23%

29%32%

36% 36%

About the series

How to Fix Buffalo’s Schools is an occasional series highlighting urban schools across the countrythat have made outsized progress on some of the seemingly intractable problems plaguing inner-cityschools. The successful schools were selected through statistical analysis of data on academic perfor-mance and demographics. The schools chosen are some of the best examples of successfully educatingstudents with backgrounds similar to those in the Buffalo Public Schools.

To read the first seven parts of this series and for online-only features,go to BuffaloNews.com/HowtoFix

June22, 2014: In the Bronx, a school for at-risk boys succeeds.July13,2014: In Brooklyn, a model for teaching immigrants.July15, 2014: Buffalo’s Lafayette High School struggles to teach immigrants.Aug.17,2014:Newark’s jobs training is a model for urban schools.Oct.5, 2014: A charter school that beats City Honors.Oct.12, 2014: Empowering students at Tapestry Charter High School.Dec. 21,2014: At Buffalo’s Grabiarz School, high expectations and rigor breed success.Today: In the Buffalo Public Schools, absenteeism is rampant.

Next Sunday: How Los Angeles gets more kids to come to school.

42.6%

BlackTotal: 18,562 students

for 2013-14

53.3%

HispanicTotal: 7,768 students

for 2013-14

Absenteeism by race / Students missing 18 or more days

Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News

44.6%

WhiteTotal: 6,528 students

for 2013-14

Chronic absenteeism is most prevalent among Hispanic students, with more than half of themmissing 18 days or more each year. The absenteeism rate is lowest among black students.

A8 The Buffalo News/Sunday, September 20, 2015

Those who arrive late wait in the au-ditorium until the start of the next classperiod, a process intended to minimizeclassroom disruptions. But the systemhas its shortcomings.

“A lot of kids sign in, go to the audito-rium, then walk right back out. We callthem ghosts,” said Bihr, the Riversideteacher. “We have four security guards– but 24 doors.”

In addition, a relatively new com-puterized record-keeping system auto-matically marks each student as pres-ent – unless a teacher takes attendance.Critics say it’s impossible to tell how fre-quently students are marked as presentsimply because teachers, for whateverreason, do not take attendance.

Triage for truants

In the Alumni Room at Bennett HighSchool, nine staffers sit around a clusterof tables arranged in a U-shape for theweekly “senior triage” meeting.

They have identified dozens of seniorsclosetograduating–manyjust twoclass-es shy of a diploma – but at risk of notmaking it across the finish line, largelybecause they miss too much school.

Here, the obstacles to attendance –babies, emotional problems, studentsliving on their own – morph from datapoints into young faces. Their life sto-ries can overwhelm whatever strate-gies schools administrators devise to getthem into class.

“One reason Bennett students are notgraduating is not because they’re notpassing the exam, but because they’renot passing the class. They’re not passingthe class because they’re not coming toschool,”saidBertStevenson,theprincipal.

After targeting improved attendanceas a key goal, the district has given eachschool quite a bit of leeway in determin-ing how to accomplish it. Last year atBennett, the first under Stevenson, themost at-risk seniors were pulled fromtheir assigned homerooms and put intoone of two senior support homerooms.

Each student is assigned a mentor onthe senior triage team – a teacher, coun-selor, administrator or other staff mem-ber – who is responsible for checking inwith them regularly.

At the triage meeting, staff memberstake turns running through their list ofstudents,detailingtheobstacles for thosewho haven’t been coming to school.

In just a few minutes, it becomesclear how much these students are upagainst. For many of them, school sinkstoward the bottom of their list of priori-ties, given everything else in their livesdemanding attention and energy.

Neil Lange, a longtime special-edu-cation teacher, ticks off a list of studentswho have had perfect attendance thepast several days.

And then there is Tynesha.“I’ve got her mother’s number,” he

says. “I’ve been calling. Her mother in-

sists she’ll be here every day.”Henderson, the attendance teacher,

offers to visit the student’s house.Tynesha, like many seniors at Ben-

nett, is 19 – too old for Child ProtectiveServices to intervene and also past thecompulsory age of attendance.

Sheneeds just twocredits tograduate.“Tynesha had a baby and then gave

up coming to school,” Lange says.Next student up for discussion:

Quinn. His problems began long beforeheshowedupatBennett.Heran intodif-ficulties in another district. The schoolcouldn’t handle him, so he was placed ina residential facility and categorized as

“E.D.” – emotionally disturbed.“He’s not actually E.D. He’s an un-

happy kid,” social worker Wendell Wildsays. “Part of the problem is that peopleapproach him like he has a disability –and he resents it, as he should. What he’sgot is a miserable life.”

Quinn had a 97 average in English,but didn’t show up for the exam, Langesaid. The sense of frustration in theroomispalpable. Staffers comparenotesand agree to redouble their efforts totrack him down by phone.

The group moves on to discuss Veron-ica. She, like many other students at Ben-nett, enrolled in a BOCES program once

itbecameavailable tostudents insomeofBuffalo’s struggling high schools.

Many, though, are not used to jug-gling academics with the demands of avocational program, and want to opt outof BOCES. But if they do, they won’t haveenough credits to graduate.

Veronica is living with her boyfriend,like many high school students in Buffa-lo who no longer live with their parentsor guardians.

“The boyfriend goes to South Park,”a staffer says. “He’s not going to schooleither.”

email: mpasciak@buffnews.com

SCHOOLS • from A7

HOW TO FIXBUFFALO’S SCHOOLS

F or years, the Buffalo PublicSchools and other districtstracked attendance with a singlenumber: average daily atten-

dance, the percentage of students likelyto be in school on a given day.

Over the past decade, Buffalo’s dailyaverage fluctuated from 86 to 91 percent– lower than neighboring districts, buthardly a number reflecting a crisis.

But researchers say average daily at-tendance masks the problem because itfails to account for the fact that, in manycases, it is the same group of studentswho miss school day after day.

What’s important, experts now say, isidentifying students who are chronicallyabsent – those who miss more than 10percent of the school year, or 18 days outof the 180-day academic calendar. Thoseare the students most likely to drop out.

A study in Chicago found that amonghigh school freshmen who missed eightor fewer days of school, 87 percent gradu-ated in four years. But among those whomissed 20 to 28 days, only 41 percentgraduated. And among those missing 40to 48 days, only 9 percent graduated.

For years, though, there was no way toknow how many students in a school werechronicallyabsent.Aschool couldreport90percentaveragedailyattendance, eventhoughoneoutof fourof its studentscouldbechronicallyabsent, according toanoften-citedfigure inattendancestudies.

Buffalo’s average daily attendance fouryears ago, for instance, was 87 percent.Though several percentage points lowerthan in neighboring districts, 87 percentsounds relatively high. But that numbermasks the variation and the fact that,while many students come to school near-ly all the time, many others miss a criticalnumber of days. In fact, more than 42 per-cent of Buffalo students missed a monthor more of school that year.

More than four years ago, Buffalohired Hedy Chang, the founder of At-tendance Works, who helped the districtrealize the importance of reporting datadifferently.

Now, in addition to average daily at-tendance, Buffalo reports every month,for each school: the percentage of stu-dents who miss less than 5 percent of theyear; those deemed at-risk, who miss 5 to10 percent of the year; those with chronicabsences, meaning they miss 10 to 20percent of the year; and those who areseverely absent and miss more than 20percent of the year.

Buffalo is among the relatively fewschool districts across the country totrack attendance in this more nuancedway – something experts think indicatesa district is more proactive than most.

Still, compared to the other districtsthat do, Buffalo’s attendance problem re-mains far worse.

– Mary B. Pasciak

In Buffalo, better tracking

but not better attendance

A t Bennett High School, 10 weeksinto the last school year, slightlyfewer than half the seniorswere on track to graduate.

“I said to the counselors, ‘If it wasgraduation day, who would be graduat-ing?’ We just made a list,” Principal BertStevenson recalled. “Students need aclear understanding of where they stand.”

Nearly all students want to gradu-ate. Many of them, though, miss a lot ofschool; and they don’t seem to under-stand that the more school they miss, theless likely they are to graduate.

Stevenson decided there was value inspelling that out for them.

The counselors compiled a report foreach student that included their atten-dance, course grades and credits stillneeded for graduation. Then, they calledall the seniors together. About half weretold to sit on one side of the room, and halfon the other side, based on the data thecounselors had pulled together.

“The counselors said 47 percent wouldgraduate,” said Shamar McDuffie, a se-nior last year.

To students on one side of the cafete-ria, the counselors had a great message.

“They said, ‘Class of 2015, great job!’And we were on the other side,” Shamarsaid. “I was like, ‘What? What are you talk-ing about?’ I was in denial for a minute.”

Destiny Blue, too, found herself amongthose asked to stand, to signify that they

were not on track to graduate.“I was embarrassed,” she said. “I was

just failing one class – college prep.”When Shamar looked at his report,

he saw that he had been late to school forthree weeks in a row, missing first periodmore than a dozen times in a month. Hewas failing Algebra 2, his first-period class.

Working 20 hours a week at the WestSeneca nursing home where his motheris a certified nursing assistant, he oftenwent directly from school to his job, wherehe would work from 4 to 8 p.m. Then hewould go home and face the school workwaiting to be done – and wake up at 6:30a.m. the next day to be up in time to catchthe bus for school and start the whole pro-cess over again.

“I was just late all the time. I wastired,” he said.

Later in the day, each senior who wasnot on track to graduate was asked towrite a personal plan, addressing theproblem areas in his or her individualreport and outlining what they had to dodifferently to get on track to graduate.

Destiny, like Shamar, had been com-ing in late fairly often. With a baby athome, it was often difficult to leave thehouse on time. But once she saw her re-port, she realized she had to do it.

“That made us open our eyes,” Destinysaid. “They pointed it out to us. We reallyhad to turn it around.”

– Mary B. Pasciak

Counselors’ reports shock

Bennett seniors into action

STUDENTS TELL MENTORSTHAT SCHOOL IS A LOW PRIORITY

Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News

Special-education teacher Neil Lange, center, who is on Bennett High School’s senior triage committee, offers JessikaAnderson, left, advice about graduating. Teacher Lisa Corey, right, accompanied Jessika to the office.

Passing rate / The effects of student absenteeism on exams

Missing 9 to 17 days Missing 18 to 35 days Missing 36 or more daysStudents missing 8 or fewer days

79%

74%

67%

50%

English Regents exam

66%

52%

42%

28%

Global history Regents exam

72%

61%

47%

33%

Integrated algebra Regents exam

73%

64%

52%

34%

Living environment Regents exam

The more school that Buffalo students miss, the less likely they are to pass their exams, according to a study the district did two years ago.The chart shows the percentage of students in each attendance category who passed each of four Regents exams.