Officials continue to track student absentee rates in schools

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com



Officials with the Tri-County Regional School Board are tracking absentee rates in its schools on a daily basis and say over the past two days the board-wide average rate of absenteeism was 15 per cent on Tuesday and 18 per cent Wednesday.

But the school board cautions it does not know how many of these children are absent because of H1N1, because of the seasonal flu or because their parents have just opted to keep them home.

There may also be other reasons for students not being in school, says Bill Curry, director of program and student services. For instance Wednesday was ‘Take Your Kid to Work Day’ so calculating Grade 9 absences on Wednesday was tricky, and, he said, it may have also inflated the number of overall absenteeism.

Still, there is no doubt that schools are seeing fewer students sitting in their desks. There are 7, 192 students in the Tri-County board so Tuesday’s 15 per cent average absentee rate meant that at least 1,078 students were not in class.

And with an average, it means there are some schools above the absentee rate quoted by the board, and some below that. On Wednesday Bill Curry, the board’s director of program and student services, said a couple of schools that had had the highest number of student absentee rates had seen their figure come down. He did not say which schools these were.

“And obviously since the average went up, a couple of other schools did go up, but neither went up dramatically,” he said.

Meanwhile, the number of students absent from school has caused Maple Grove Education Centre to postpone the Remembrance Day ceremony it was going to hold at the school on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 5. This is the first time in 25 years that the service has been cancelled on the day on which it was to be held. Teacher Joe Bishara said Wednesday there are quite a few kids out because of the flu, and it was not felt this was a good time to be bringing the public into the school.

There is also a lot of anecdotal information circulating. The Vanguard was told of one classroom at a school this week that only had eight of 27 students, and again the reasons for all student absences are not known.

The school board says its plan – in consultation with the departments of health and education – is to keep the schools open as long as it is safe to do so. Asked whether there is a point a board could reach when, with so few kids in the classroom, it would not be feasible to keep operating, Curry said, “Yes, we might close if Department of Education or Health said we should, but it would more likely be due to lack of staff, rather than students, as those students not ill do have a right to an education.”

On Tuesday the average rate of staff absenteeism was four per cent, on Wednesday it was 4.3 per cent. Asked whether the board has a sufficient number of substitute teachers should the need arise, Curry said the board has already asked for “permit” teachers to be licensed quickly by the Department of Education, and the department has agreed to this. This gives the board an extra pool of people to dip into who have bachelors and masters degrees, but who haven’t got a Bachelor of Education.

“We also have contacted substitutes and retired teachers to see if any are interested, even though they may not have taught for some time,” Curry explains.

Meanwhile, the school board says parents do have the right to determine for themselves whether they are comfortable in sending their children to school during the pandemic. Obviously children who are ill and/or displaying flu-like symptoms are asked to stay home. But given the fact that school age children have not yet been prioritized for H1N1 vaccination in this province amid a nationwide shortage of vaccine – and the province’s chief medical officer says this is because while school aged children are at risk for getting H1N1, the vast majority of those who do contract it will only experience a mild case – parents do have the right to choose whether they want to send their children to school or keep them home.

“Ultimately the parents’ decision is what stands on whether they feel they should be sending their child to school,” Curry said.

The board is doing what it can to keep the school environment as risk-free as possible. Aside from encouraging students to take steps during the day to protect themselves – like increased hand washing – there is extra cleaning going on in the schools, particularly of common surfaces, along with other measures.

Meanwhile, the school board will be discussing its business continuity plan and its response to H1N1 during a series of public school advisory council workshops next week. One workshop is being held in each county served by the board. The workshops will be held from 7-9 p.m. at the following locations:

•St. Mary’s Bay Academy on Monday, Nov. 9;

•Meadowfields School on Tuesday, Nov. 10;

•Evelyn Richardson Memorial School on Thursday, Nov. 12.