Siver Spring Elementary Ranks High in Absenteeism; Other Schools Mid-Pack

East Providence Public Schoolson the scale in what the state Department of Education terms "chronic absenteeism," meaning students who miss more than 18 days of the school year.

WPRI Channel 12 recently reported that 17 percent of all students in Rhode Island were classified as chronically absent during the 2011-12 school year, with four Providence high schools reporting more than 50 percent of students on the list.

Silver Spring Elementary School was listed 19th-highest in the state, with 36.91 percent. The city's other elementary schools all recorded absenteeism rates of less than 15 percent.

East Providence High School had 24.26 percent chronic absenteeism, followed by Edward R. Martin Middle School with 22.59 percent. Riverside Middle School came in at 17.18 percent.

East Providence's other six schools that were measured all had less than 15 percent of their students in the chronically absent category — The Career and Technical Center and Meadowcrest Early Learning Center were not measured.

East Providence High School

See the complete results here.

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Why do you think East Providence has such mixed results in getting kids to attend school? How do you think school attendance can be improved?

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