BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – We are On Your Side digging deeper into the numbers of students who are missing from attendance rolls across our state.
Alabama State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey says 5,800 students are missing from attendance rolls. He says a large portion of students, approximately 3,000, transferred to private or home schooling through the CHOOSE Act, but there are more than 2,000 students unaccounted for. Dr. Mackey says the larger school districts have the highest number of missing students.
According to the data, Birmingham City Schools normally have 20,000 students and 482 students are not showing up. Out of the 34,000 students in Jefferson County, 1,025 students are gone from the attendance rolls.
Of the 5,825 students who disappeared from state school rolls between last school year and this school year, 26% came from Jefferson County (1,025 students or 17.6%) – this was the largest drop of students from year-to-year in the state. The third largest attendance drop in the state came from Birmingham City Schools (482 students or 8.2%).
For perspective, of the 8,300 students in Etowah County, 237 students are missing. In Tarrant City, of 1,200 students, there are 175 students missing. In Tuscaloosa City, of the 10,000 students, 192 students are missing…