Three Timmins elementary schools reported absentee rates of over 30 per cent last week.
Ontario is no longer reporting individual COVID-19 cases in schools. Instead, it's launched a website tracking absentee rates of students and staff at all schools. The rates show the number of absences the prior day. When a school hits 30 per cent absenteeism, the province has said families will be notified.
The absenteeism reporting accounts for all reasons a student or staff may not be at school, not just COVID. The numbers being reported today are for Jan. 21, when school buses were cancelled from Kirkland Lake to Temagami due to weather.
Pinecrest Public School has a 40.2 per cent absenteeism rate, with R. Ross Beattie Senior Public School being at 32.4 per cent. Schumacher Public School's rate is 35.6 per cent.
W. Earle Miller is just under the threshold at 29.5 per cent.
Rates at or over 30 per cent absenteeis in the rest of the region on Jan. 21 include:
- Kirkland Lake Central Public School, 65.3 per cent
- Clayton Brown Public School (Hearst), 32.9 per cent
- Cochrane High School, 30.5 per cent
- Cochrane Public School, 37.7 per cent
- Englehart Public School, 52.1 per cent
- Englehart Secondary School, 76.7 per cent
- Federal Public School (Kirkland Lake), 70.8 per cent
- Hearst High School, 33.3 per cent
- Iroquois Falls Public School, 41.8 per cent
- Kirkland Lake District Composite Secondary School, 34.6 per cent
- New Liskeard Public School, 74.5 per cent
- PACE Timmins, 65.5 per cent
- Aileen Wright English Catholic School (Cochrane), 32.8 per cent
- Bishop Belleau School (Moosonee), 43 per cent
- English Catholic Central School (New Liskeard), 69 per cent
- Holy Family School (Englehart), 71.1 per cent
- Sacred Heart Catholic School (Kirkland Lake), 82 per cent
- St. Jerome School (Kirkland Lake), 68.4 per cent
- St. Patrick Catholic School (Cobalt) 75.2 per cent
