Not just playing hooky: Teachers' union wants crackdown on chronic absenteeism

The head of the provincial teachers' union has a solution to address chronic absenteeism: hire more teachers and find out why some students miss so much school.

Dean Ingram, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, says schools, school districts and provincial government departments need to work together to address student absenteeism and what he calls "educational neglect."

"It's very difficult to for them to get the education they need if they're not there to receive it," he said.

A report released last week by the province's child and youth advocate said 10 per cent of students are "chronically absent," missing 18 or more days of school each year.

"That's a full month of the school year being lost," Ingram said.

Ingram said teachers record attendance data, but there aren't enough staff members to follow up with parents and find out why students are missing school.

The NLTA president also says larger class sizes are contributing to the problem. He said teachers have a hard time meeting the needs of so many students — and students who don't feel their needs are being met simply stop coming to class.

"The relationship between teacher and student, between teacher and home certainly is a factor in whether students attend school or not," he told The St. John's Morning Show.

'Educational neglect'

Last week, Child and Youth Advocate Jackie Lake Kavanagh called the numbers "staggering" and, like Ingram, urged co-operation.

"There is enough information to act," she said. "Government doesn't need to keep researching this forever."

Ingram also suggested the province update its child welfare legislation so that the Department of Children, Seniors, and Social Development could investigate cases of "educational neglect," in which parents — either intentionally or through lack of due care — keep their kids from getting to school.

But that's not something the department appears to be considering.

In a statement, a spokesperson said "chronic absenteeism in and of itself is not an indicator of child abuse or neglect," but should a complaint be filed with "other information that may indicate child abuse or neglect, the requirement for a child protection investigation will be assessed."

Under the Newfoundland and Labrador Schools Act, any parent who "does not make every reasonable effort to ensure that his or her child attends school" and anyone "who by threat, intimidation or otherwise prevents or attempts to prevent the attendance of a child at school is guilty of an offence."

The act dictates that an offender can face a fine up of to $500, three months in jail, or both.

School district responds

A statement from the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District says the board has been working on improving attendance.

In 2017, the district released the same statistics Lake Kavanagh cited in her report, and chair Goronwy Price sent a letter to parents encouraging them to build strong habits around school attendance.

"The district has intensified efforts to address absenteeism in recent years through improved attendance recording/monitoring software (PowerSchool), and protocols/intervention strategies that begin at the school level, but can also involve district staff if the problem persists," the statement reads.

"We look forward to participating in further discussions around recommendations contained in the [child and youth advocate's] report."

The provincial Department of Education and Early Childhood Development also sent a statement about its collaboration with other government departments, school districts, and regional health authorities "to develop an action plan to address chronic absenteeism."

The statement offered no timeline for the implementation of such a plan.

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