South Gate High Is Tops in Attendance

South Gate High School students have been taught that dental appointments and colds are no excuse to miss school. Apparently neither is a 6.8 earthquake.

When the 3,970-student school reopened one week after last month’s devastating temblor, 93% of the students reported to class. Within three days the attendance rate was 97%, said Jim Alther, the assistant principal who oversees attendance.

For two consecutive years, South Gate has had the best attendance of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s 49 senior high schools.

For the first five months of this school year, the rate was 95.5%, an increase of 0.5% over the same period last year.

During the 1992-93 school year, South Gate’s attendance rate was about 95%, outdistancing second-place El Camino High School at 87.7%. The districtwide average attendance rate is 83%, according to district records.