3 Brampton schools’ absence rates top 20 per cent

On Thurdsay, five schools in Brampton reported having more than one out of every six students and staff members as absent.

Midway through last month, the province discontinued case reporting, where brick-and-mortar elementary school classrooms and secondary school cohorts were shifted to online when a member was confirmed to have COVID-19. Presently, schools now report schoolwide absence rates for staff and students to the province, with no indication as to how much, or little, COVID-19 has contributed to people being away.

On Thursday, three schools in Brampton said more than 20 per cent of their population was absent. Two others were above 17 per cent.

Judith Nyman Secondary School had a city-high 23.8 absence rate, less than one percentage point higher than Peel Alternative North at 23.1.

Schools themselves, according to the Ontario Ministry of Health, generally have low rates of COVID-19 transmission. Spread of the virus happens more in the general community. Helen Wilson Public School, which is less than 2 km away from Peel Alternative North, reported a 20.7% absence rate, which is the highest of any elementary school in the city.

Less than 5 km to the south, Turner Fenton Secondary School reported a 17.5% absence rate. Parkholme Secondary School, in the western part of the city, reported a 17.1% absence rate.

Judith Nyman is the lone vocational high school in Brampton that is part of the Peel District School Board (PDSB), with a focus on helping its students develop trade-specific skills. Peel District’s other vocational high school, West Ferris in Mississauga, also had a high absence rate of 26.4 per cent on Thursday.

Similarly, Peel Alternative North’s counterpart in the neighbouring city also had a high absence rate. In fact, Peel Alternative South’s 46.2% absence rate was the highest reported in Mississauga on Feb. 24.

In regard to Brampton elementary schools, Our Lady of Providence’s 15.0% absence rate was the highest in Dufferin-Peel Catholic board. Aloma Cresent (14.9) and Springdale (14.7) reported the highest absence rates among elementary schools in PDSB.

Schools self-report the percentage of pupils, teachers and other education workers to the province each afternoon. It isually made publicly available around 10:30 a.m. the following morning.