Absenteeism down under Alabama immigration law

photo In this Aug. 17, 2011 file photo, students sit in the gym at Crossville Elmentary School in Crossville, Ala. Despite being in an almost all-white town, the school's enrollment is about 65 percent Hispanic. Hispanic students have started vanishing from Alabama public schools in the wake of a court ruling that upheld the state's tough new law cracking down on illegal immigration. Education officials say scores of immigrant families have withdrawn their children from classes or kept them home this week, afraid that sending the kids to school would draw attention from authorities. There are no precise statewide numbers. But several districts with large immigrant enrollments - from small towns to large urban districts - reported a sudden exodus of children of Hispanic parents, some of whom told officials they would leave the state to avoid trouble with the law, which requires schools to check students' immigration status.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Some Hispanic parents are returning their children to Alabama's public schools after initially keeping them at home over fears about the state's tough new immigration law. Others are withdrawing their children in preparation for moving out of state.

There are no statewide figures yet on withdrawals, but some schools with large Hispanic populations have seen more than 10 percent of their students leave.

"They seem to be taking the law seriously enough to move out of state," Enterprise Superintendent of Education Aaron Milner said Thursday.

Out of the 34,652 Hispanic students in Alabama's public schools, 1,357 were absent Wednesday. That was down from a high of 2,285 on Monday, the state Department of Education reported.

The decline came after state and local education officials used news releases, videos and school assemblies to assure Hispanic parents that the schools would not be used to arrest anyone for being an illegal immigrant.

"We believe our efforts may have helped to dismay confusion and fear. We will continue to do more to reach out and let all students and parents know they are welcome in Alabama's public schools," department spokeswoman Malissa Valdes said.

The department won't have withdrawal numbers until around Oct. 17, she said.

But a check with school systems found some Hispanic families are leaving.

At Foley Elementary School, one of the most heavily Hispanic schools in southwest Alabama, principal Bill Lawrence said Thursday that 25 students have withdrawn and he expects another 40 to withdraw, based on discussions with their parents.

That would be about one-fourth of his Hispanic enrollment.

"The part that is driving this is fear," he said.

In Enterprise, the superintendent said his system had more than 250 Hispanic students before the law took effect. As of Thursday, 32 had withdrawn and 37 were absent. "We've had several miss multiple days and we do not know their status," Milner said.

Milner said withdrawals will affect future funding from the state for hiring teachers because the funding is based on a school's average daily enrollment.

"That 32 students could be as much as two teacher units," he said.

A federal judge allowed portions of Alabama's immigration law to take effect last week. One provision requires schools to check the legal status of new students when they enroll. Then they report numbers, but not names, to state education officials in Montgomery.

In Foley, Lawrence said his typical Hispanic student was born in the U.S., usually in Foley, but one or both of their parents were not. Lawrence said parents are frightened to drive their children to school because the law that allows police to hold motorists who can't produce documents to show they are legal residents.

"The fear is you are going to be pulled over, detained and deported," he said.

No state agency is compiling records on how many people have been detained so far, and a spokesman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said the agency had no totals.

In Calhoun County, Sheriff Larry Amerson said during the first week the law was in effect, his officers made routine traffic stops with three Hispanic motorists who couldn't produce driver's licenses, car registration records or liability insurance records. His department sent their names and fingerprints to ICE and was told to hold only one. He said having three traffic stops in one week with no IDs is normal for his county, which includes Anniston and Jacksonville.

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