Scores of Hispanic students were missing from classrooms across the county on Wednesday, likely because of a boycott encouraged by some Hispanic-owned businesses.

According to numbers released by the Jefferson County Board of Education, 1,978 students were absent from Jefferson County schools on Wednesday. Although it is not the highest absence rate for the whole week (Monday saw 2,216 absences), Wednesday did have almost five times the absences of Monday and Tuesday in the “not specified” race category; “not specified” is how most Hispanic students identify their race, according board of education Director of Information Services Nez Calhoun. On Monday, 109 “not specified” students were absent and 76 were absent on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 519 “not specified” students were absent.

The boycott also may have caused some workers to not show up for their jobs; in particular, several Mexican restaurants across the county closed on Wednesday.

Habanero’s Mexican restaurant in Gardendale was closed on Wedenesday and opened again on Thursday, but a manager said the closure was related to a maintenance issue and had nothing to do with the boycott.

“I think it’s going to have unintended consequences for people walking off the job,” said Jeff Dennis, owner of Jeff Dennis Jewelers in Gardendale. “I think it’s going to create a dangerous cycle for Hispanics. I think they need our business more than we need their business, at least in certain situations.”

Dennis ran a promotion on Wednesday to give free gifts to customers who presented a receipt from any local business with their purchases.

“Closing a business is just not the right way to make a point,” he said. “Let’s go out and support local establishments. If they’re going to close, then people can just go somewhere else for lunch.”

Also on Wednesday, a man allegedly chased a Hispanic man from a Gardendale business back to his home in One Hundred Oaks Manufactured Homes Community, according to One Hundred Oaks general manager Bill Bounds. Bounds also said a sign bearing the words “Boycott Latinos” was removed from the community’s sign at its front entrance.

“It’s getting to where the children are in danger,” said Bounds. He also said a One Hundred Oaks employee usually supervises the community’s children when they get off school buses in the afternoon. Bounds filed a report with Fultondale Police a couple of weeks ago when another woman allegedly yelled racial slurs near the entrance to the community.