(CNN) More than 25% of a Mississippi school district's Hispanic or Latino student population missed classes a day after immigration authorities rounded up hundreds of undocumented workers at food processing plants in the state, a school superintendent said.

Of the Scott County School District's 560 Hispanic or Latino students, 154 were absent from school Thursday, Superintendent Tony McGee said.

Attendance improved a day later. Fifty Hispanic or Latino students missed school on Friday, McGee said.

The reasons for each school absence weren't immediately clear. But school officials are visiting the homes of the absent Hispanic and Latino children to relay a message: They'll be safe at school, Assistant Superintendent Chad Harrison said

"We're trying to make sure these kids know they got a safe place," Harrison told CNN's "New Day" on Friday.