DENVER - Although Commerce City is reportedly considering a proposal to stop students from ditching school, state data shows students there are far from the worst offenders. Denver, on the other hand, has seven schools ranked in the top 20 for truancy rates.

The truancy rates are calculated by the Colorado Department of Education each year. The total number of unexcused absences in each school is divided by the total number of student days possible in the 2011-2012 school year to determine the percentages.

With a truancy rate of 35.95 percent, New America School in Lakewood had the highest truancy rate in the state.

The only school from Commerce City ranked in the top 20 was Lester R. Arnold High School. With an enrollment of 251, that school had a truancy rate of 23.29 percent.

The next Commerce City school on the list was Adams City High School, which had a truancy rate of 9.38 percent and ranked at 55.

It is also important to note that the top 20 truancy rates are associated with relatively small schools. The fall enrollment of the schools range from just five to 531.

The first school on the list with an enrollment over 1,000 is Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver. That school had an enrollment of 1,903 students and a truancy rate of 10.7 percent.