Schools

MBUSD Truancy Rates Among Lowest in L.A. County (Map)

Despite a low district average, Mira Costa High School still has truancy rate above the state average.

By Dan Abendschein

The number of students absent from school without an excuse within the Manhattan Beach Unified School District in 2011-12 was among the lowest in the county with the exception of Mira Costa High School, according to recently released state figures.

According to those figures, only 17.4 percent of MBUSD students were truant at least once in 2011-12.  That compares with 32.4 percent of students in L.A. County and a 28.5 percent average statewide.

However, Mira Costa High School notched one of the high rates in the district with a 36.3 percent truancy rate – more than 8 percent higher than the state average. 

Truancy rates for each school can be found in the database above.

The data comes from a report issued in April by the California Department of Education, which looks at suspensions, expulsion and truancy at schools across the state.  More data on the subject can be found at the state's website under the 'Expulsion, Suspension and Truancy' category.

How to Use the Above Map and Form

The above map shows the truancy rate for each unified school district in the county.  Districts that service just one level of school are not pictured on the map.  Clicking on each district gives the suspension rate, expulsion rate, truancy rates and more.

The map is color-coded with the greener shades having lower rates than the state average, the yellows and orange around or between the county and state average and the red's above both county and state average.

The database below the map allows you to look up more data for each school district or for any individual school in the county.  Be sure to use just one of the two categories to search; use either 'district' or 'school,' not both.

On the list of schools the database shows, schools in green have truancy rates at least 10 percent below the state average, while yellow schools are within 10 percent and red ones at least 10 percent above.

Please note the raw figures for suspensions show the number of students suspended not the total number of suspensions -- some students were suspended more than once.


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