With the province switching from reporting COVID-19 cases in schools to absenteeism rates, there are still questions about the effectiveness of this new strategy.
As of Friday, 337 schools in the province had absenteeism rates of 30 percent or higher, although it is not clear if this is all related to COVID. Of the 337 cases, 111 schools had absenteeism rates higher than 50 percent.
The province no longer publishes information on COVID-19 cases in schools due to a limited testing policy.
Locally, neither the Thames Valley nor the London District Catholic school boards show absenteeism at or above 30 per cent.
“These vacancies or absenteeism figures definitely indicate a degree of illness at school levels. Whether it is COVID-related or not, we are not sure, ”said Jeff Pratt, co-director of TVDSB.
“We are in the middle of the cold and flu season and there are many individuals who will have one or two symptoms who, based on the daily screening that our students and staff are asking to do, that screening has not (passed). “
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Pratt said parents should use their own discretion or they feel it is safe enough to send their child to school.
He said they were going to monitor the numbers and try to ensure that students could stay in school, but noted that they would take the lead of the health unit.
By the end of the week, he also said parents will be able to see on their website which absences were reported because a person failed the COVID selection or if it was for some other reason. Parents and staff will both have the option to report if they or their child has failed the COVID screening questions when reporting their absence.
While no local school is at the 30 percent threshold, Franklin D Roosevelt Public School in London is close to 29.5 percent.
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More than 330 Ontario schools report absenteeism rates of 30% or higher
President of the Thames Valley Elementary Teachers Federation, Craig Smith, questions whether 30 percent is the best number to use.
“It’s a threshold we may never reach,” Smith said.
“It’s not an argument to turn around, it’s an argument for safety, and if we’re on 30 percent absences due to COVID, it’s a significant number of people (who) are directly or indirectly affected by what happens at school. “
Smith noted that the county may want to lower it if the goal is security.
He advocates a return to the old model of reporting positive cases if numbers fall in the province.
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