An initiative called ‘Attendance Matters’ is trying to get to the bottom of poor attendance numbers in the Anglophone South School District.
Lori Wall is the Principal of Sussex Regional High School, she says 7 High Schools and 2 Middle Schools took part in a study in an attempt to better understand why students are missing classes.
Wall says poor attendance is a bigger problem in High School students compared to students in Kindergarten to Grade 8.
She says there’s a variety of reasons behind the poor attendance, which include no support at home, mental health issues and students who decide to work instead of going to class so they can support their family financially.
Paul Smith is the Director of Schools at the Hampton Education Centre, he says roughly 16 % of High School Students are missing classes on a daily basis.
Smith says although hockey is known as the fifth season in Canada, tournaments were also found to contribute to dropping attendance numbers.
For more information on the initiative, click bit.ly/1L5jk7K
