07:59 AM PDT on Thursday, May 4, 2006

Associated Press

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- Students in vast numbers skipped class for Monday's immigration rallies are finding it wasn't a free day off. For some, it's payback time.

KGW photo

Hispanics and their supporters rally in downtown Portland Monday.

At Forest Grove High School Wednesday the line at the attendance office snaked out the door and into the hallway. About 120 of the 600 students who missed class on Monday, most to attend rallies in Salem and Portland, got detention.

About 30 percent of the students are Latino.

State law requires students to be in school unless excused for illness, family emergency or other reasons where arrangements have been made in advance.

Gene Evans, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Education, said it's up to each district to deal with the issue.

Some schools in Washington County reported half their students absent on Monday, while some others saw little absence.

Districts give parents between 24 and 48 hours to report absences as excused.

In the Hillsboro School District, where about 580 students among four high schools were absent Monday, administrators decided on a case-by-case basis.

Students with unexcused absences weren't allowed to make up homework and could also receive detention or community service, as usual.

At Milwaukie High School, Principal Kelly Carlisle said those who were absent may have learned something.

"My bigger question for students is, 'What did you learn? What are you going to do with that information?"' Carlisle said. "There is probably a good lesson about civics, government and what it means to be a citizen."

At Forest Grove High School many parents called in with illnesses or doctors' appointments.

"There's a rush on dentists," Principal John O'Neill said Monday.

"You can tell there's still an excitement from Monday," said Stephanie Vasquez, a Forest Grove junior who attended a Portland rally and her mother excused her absence.

Others agreed, saying they were prepared for the hour-long punishment and that it was worth it.

Woodburn High School Laura Lanka said the immigration issue is a personal one among the heavily Hispanic student body, especially in light of strict legislation affecting undocumented immigrants being considered in Congress.

"They fear that their relatives might be labeled criminals," she said, "and deported immediately."