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DPS First Day Attendance Falls 20,000 Students Short Of Goal

DETROIT (WWJ) - Attendance on the first day of school in the city of Detroit was not quite what district officials had hoped for.  That's according the Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Roy Roberts who said 43,660 students showed up, about 3,000 more than attended on the first day last year.

Roberts, who called it,"a good start," said enrollment is expected to climb as the month progresses and he feels confident they'll reach their target number of 65,000 students.

He said he believes that the district has tackled the issue of academics and safety and believes students will return.

"Because we've had large numbers of students that live in this city, like 45,000, that have gone to school outside the city of Detroit, not for academic reasons but for safety reasons, so we think we're attacking the right things," Roberts said.

"We want to stop the bleeding of what's been occurring the last ten years, we want to stop that bleeding. If we're doing the right things academically and if we're putting the safety in place for parents and students, I'm convinced we'll do that," he said.

Roberts said there will be attendance officers going door-to-door to find out why Detroit kids are not in school.

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