West Contra Costa Schools' Truancy Rate More Than Twice The State Average

In fact, eight schools in the district had truancy rates above 75 percent.

The district's 60 percent truancy rate is more than double the state average of 28 percent and significantly above the Contra Costa County average of 37 percent.

Truancy is defined as any student who misses 30 minutes or more of class time without a valid excuse at least three times in one school year.

Not surprisingly, high schools have the highest truancy rates, anywhere from a third to half of a school's student population.

The state data shows 97 percent of Kennedy High students were reported as truant during the 2011-2012 school year.

It also showed that almost 93 percent of Pinole Valley High students were truant last school year.

At the middle schools, the truancy rate ranged from a low of 51 percent at Hercules to 87 percent at Lovonya Dejean.

In the elementary schools, the truancy rate ranged from a low of 8 percent at Madera to 63 percent at Mira Vista.

Pamala Blake, the school district's director of student services and alternative education, said the truancy rates vary from school to school and tend to be higher in urban areas.

"Studies indicate that families in urban areas have not made the correlation between higher learning and economic growth," said Blake.

She said there are a number of reasons students skip school. Among them are lack of interest in education, falling behind academically, fear of violence on campus, lax parental supervision and drug and alcohol abuse.

Blake said the district installed a new software system last year that connects directly to the district's student information systems and helps administrators to quickly intervene in problem situations.

Below is a table from data gleaned from the state superintendent's website. You can view data on suspensions, expulsions and truancy for each individual school here.

School Enrollment Truants Truancy Rate Bayview Elementary
691 336 48.6 Cesar E. Chavez Elementary
739 389 52.6 Collins Elementary
422 198 46.9 Coronado Elementary
496 203 40.9 Crespi Junior High
608 291 47.9 De Anza Senior High
980 844 86.1 Dover Elementary
760 343 45.1 Edward M. Downer Elementary
685 259 37.8 El Cerrito Senior High
1,421 1,054 74.2 Ellerhorst Elementary
454 203 44.7 Fairmont Elementary
615 267 43.4 Ford Elementary
432 203 47 Gompers Continuation High
303 288 95 Grant Elementary
662 348 52.6 Hanna Ranch Elementary
485 203 41.9 Harbour Way Elementary Community Day
50 42 84 Harding Elementary
402 159 39.6 Helms Middle
954 719 75.4 Hercules High
1,061 864 81.4 Hercules Middle
807 412 51.1 Highland Elementary
522 241 46.2 Kennedy High
999 970 97.1 Kensington Elementary
583 118 20.2 King Elementary
531 315 59.3 Lake Elementary
443 200 45.1 Leadership Public Schools: Richmond
473 284 60 Lincoln Elementary
487 256 52.6 Lovonya Dejean Middle
679 591 87 Lupine Hills Elementary
452 158 35 Madera Elementary
556 45 8.1 Manzanita Middle
167 0 0 Middle College High
290 134 46.2 Montalvin Manor Elementary
464 232 50 Murphy Elementary
533 270 50.7 North Campus Continuation
389 300 77.1 Nystrom Elementary
523 311 59.5 Ohlone Elementary
426 103 24.2 Olinda Elementary
332 109 32.8 Peres Elementary
548 288 52.6 Pinole Middle
748 453 60.6 Pinole Valley High
1,553 1,443 92.9 Portola Junior High
502 292 58.2 Richmond College Preparatory
335 159 47.5 Richmond High
1,719 1,642 95.5 Riverside Elementary
445 163 36.6 Shannon Elementary
361 137 38 Sheldon Elementary
457 229 50.1 Stege Elementary
420 246 58.6 Stewart Elementary
518 267 51.5 Tara Hills Elementary
607 378 62.3 Valley View Elementary
353 46 13 Verde Elementary
348 221 63.5 Vista Alternative High
448 266 59.4 Washington Elementary  
486 205 42.2 WCCUSD Community Day School Program
47 31 66 West County Community High
157 0 0 Wilson Elementary
617 223 36.1 West Contra Costa Unified
31,796 19,339 60.8 Contra Costa County Total 37.6 California Total 28.5