Attendance drops in Wake, Durham, Chapel Hill schools during Border Patrol surge
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- Triangle districts report large attendance drops as Border Patrol operations proceed.
- Wake recorded 19,471 absences, a 67% rise from a typical pre-surge day.
- Districts deploy counselors, outreach teams and community escorts to support families.
Attendance is down in Triangle schools as parents keep their children home during the ongoing Border Patrol immigration enforcement surge.
The Wake County school system says 19,471 students were absent on Tuesday — meaning close to 1 in 9 students stayed home. The attendance rate was even lower in Durham Public Schools, where more than 1 in 5 students were out Tuesday.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools also saw fewer students than normal on Tuesday during the first day of Border Patrol operations.
Attendance is likely to continue to be lower than normal while the Border Patrol is in the Triangle.
“All indications are that parents may keep their children out for the remainder of the week,” Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor said at a news conference Wednesday. “We’ll just monitor that.”
A similar pattern happened in Charlotte, where the Border Patrol said more than 250 people have been arrested since an operation started Saturday.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reported that 30,399 students were absent on Monday — 21% of its enrollment. Absences were down to 25,697 students on Tuesday — 18% of enrollment. It’s still much higher than the normal figure of 8% of students absent.
The attendance drops come even as local and state education leaders have tried to assure immigrant families that their rights to attend schools will be protected. Under a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision, students are guaranteed the right to attend public schools regardless of their immigration status.
“Every child in North Carolina has the constitutional right to a free public education, regardless of immigration status,” State Superintendent Mo Green said in a statement Tuesday. “This is not a choice, it is our legal responsibility.
“Our schools are places of learning, growth and opportunity. When students are absent due to fear, their education suffers and our entire community is diminished.”
Absence rates rise Tuesday in Wake schools
Wake saw far more absences than normal on Tuesday.
The 19,471 students who were absent on Tuesday represented 10.79% of the district’s membership. That’s 67% more students who were absent when compared to a more normal day like Oct. 27.
On Oct. 27, 11,630 students were absent — 6.85% of the district’s membership. Tuesday’s absence rate was 3.94 percentage points higher than Oct. 27.
Wake’s individual school data shows:
- On Tuesday, 110 of Wake’s 203 schools had an absence rate of 10% or more.
- On Tuesday, 19 schools had attendance rates of less than 80%. That’s compared to only two schools on Oct. 27.
- Baileywick Elementary in Raleigh saw a 25-percentage point drop in attendance between the two days, the biggest of any school. On Tuesday, only 68% of students were in attendance.
The drop in attendance is a worry for school leaders.
“I absolutely know that taking away instructional time in whatever form is going to have an academic impact,” Taylor said. “I am highly concerned.”
Helping absent students
Wake says school administrators, teachers and support teams are actively reaching out to families to ensure students stay connected to their classrooms. Staff are coordinating directly with parents and caregivers to help students stay on track with assignments, classwork and deadlines.
Counselors, social workers and family liaisons are providing support to students. Teachers are maintaining open communication channels via email and text messages.
So many Wake students are staying home that some speakers at Tuesday’s school board meeting asked the district to not hold absences against families this week. Irene Godinez, a parent, told school leaders they need to do more than just send a letter trying to reassure families.
“Realistically, families experiencing terror cannot be burdened with proactively advocating for their child to be excused from class via talking points, not when they are protecting themselves from being hunted,” Godinez said. “Compassion alone isn’t enough.”
Some groups have asked Wake to steps such as declare safe zones around schools have school employees monitor school bus stops for immigration enforcement activity. But Taylor said they don’t have the resources to monitor all of Wake’s bus zones and that creating a safe zone doesn’t preclude what the law allows agents to do.
Wake school board members said they sympathize with parents who are fearful right now about sending their children to school.
“When fear enters our classrooms, it disrupts everything for everyone,” said board member Christina Gordon. “Attendance, mental health, academic focus and the sense of belonging that every child deserves in their class.“
21% of Durham students absent
Durham Public Schools said 79.1% of students were present Tuesday. That meant 20.9% were absent.
“If a student misses school due to family concerns related to the current situation, we ask parents and guardians to please contact your school’s front office. Guidance has already been provided to our schools for how to support students who may miss school due to extenuating circumstances,” said Durham Superintendent Anthony Lewis said in a statement Wednesday.
Durham Public Schools sent a letter to families on Wednesday saying that there have been no immigration raids at schools. The letter also said that the immigration status of parents and students isn’t relevant to the district.”
“We understand that some families may keep their children home out of concern,” Durham said in the letter. “While regular attendance is essential to student success, we also recognize the complex decisions families are making right now.”
‘Confusion and fear’ in Durham schools
The Durham Association of Educators said it would press district leaders during a meeting Wednesday on “protecting immigrant students from ICE and bullying.”
“Yesterday, community members were detained near an elementary school,” the Durham Association of Educators said in a news release Wednesday. “Hundreds of immigrant students across the district stayed home from school.
“There is confusion and fear at schools across the district, and DPS staff want to know the plan for keeping our immigrant students and families safe.”
Durham Public Schools Strong, Durham For All and other community groups are encouraging people to join a school-based team this week to welcome families as they drop their children off at school.
Team members are doing things such as gathering near the front of schools holding signs, leading chants and songs, verifying potential ICE sightings at schools and collecting support requests from other parents.
Attendance down in Chapel Hill schools
In Chapel Hill-Carrboro, 883 students were absent on Tuesday. That’s 71% more than the 517 students who were absent on Thursday.
Overall, 91.8% of students were in class on Tuesday. That’s compared to 95.2% on Thursday.
Carrboro High School postponed CultureFest, an annual event in which students, staff and parents share their food traditions. The district said it will be held at a later date when all feel safe to attend and celebrate together.
Staff writer Tammy Grubb contributed.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Attendance drops in Wake, Durham, Chapel Hill schools during Border Patrol surge."
