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By Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
As Albuquerque Public Schools works to improve student outcomes, chronic absenteeism is one of many obstacles it faces.
Superintendent Gabriella Durán Blakey targeted the issue last week during a media event and said she’s hoping the community at large will help — specifically those who employ parents.
“We have the students during the day, and our business community has their parents,” Blakey said. “So, if we could work together to make sure that parents feel like they have the support to be able to get their kids to school on time and that attendance is important for the whole community, I think that we can really see some big increases (in attendance).”
She said focusing on educational outcomes is nearly impossible when kids are not in class.
“There’s little we can do in building foundational skills if their attendance is not consistent,” she said.
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