District School Board Ontario Northeast says their rate for chronic absenteeism dropped six per cent in the last school year.

A report from DSB-One’s Mental Health and Well-Being Lead Denise Plante-Dupuis indicates student absences went from 26.3 per cent in 2015-16 to 20.13 per cent in 2016-17.

“In 2013-2014 we were 7th in the province for chronic absenteeism. 23 percent of our students were persistently absent,” said Plante-Dupuis.

They say last year, the board came forward with an Attendance Tool Kit, providing resources to staff to help reduce the rate of absences and “increase a sense of belonging among our students.”

“It’s great news for our district,” said Director of Education, Lesleigh Dye. “Our staff have worked extremely hard to ensure our schools are welcoming and caring.”

“One of the things I’ve heard that has made a big difference are those phone calls home to parents,” she added, “Parents have talked to their children and said ‘I’ve had enough calls…you need to get to school’. That’s only one way of supporting students, but there are many, many ways.”

But the work doesn’t end there, she says. The next steps will look at dropping the number further.

“We know we have some schools who have higher rates of absenteeism than others,” Dye said, “Our senior team will need to look at the supports we are providing, and differentiate them, so that all schools can see that reduction.”

Board Chair Doug Shearer credits work done by staff to get the rate dropped significantly.

“I have a lot of respect for our staff. Kudos to them all,” he stated, “We’re now in a better position to understand what’s going on in a more effective manner, to identify trends better, and identify individual needs better.”

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