The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flon educators are working to boost classroom attendance amid a report showing local students miss slightly more school than their provincial counterparts. A new report reveals that in 2012-13, the attendance rate across the four Flin Flon schools was 91.73 per cent _ 1.9 per cent below the provincial rate. 'It is a concern,' said Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch. 'We would like all of our students in school every day.' See 'Factors' on pg. Continued from pg. Veitch said the numbers were impacted by the smaller size of the schools as well as an expectedly low attendance rate at Many Faces Education Centre, an alternative school. 'But it's not an excuse,' he added. 'We should be encouraging kids to come every day and we work hard doing that and will work harder. We're not happy at the level we're at and are trying some new things to improve that.' Among those new things is the hiring of a youth engagement coordinator, Leanne Phair, to work with youth who are not in school. Phair will attempt to engage those students in formal education or related activities as spelled out in a provincial law that compels students to stay in school until age 18. Veitch said talks are also underway to ensure students are not marked as absent when in actuality they have moved away and are attending school elsewhere. Trustee Glenn Smith said it can take two or three weeks for the transfer of a student from one school to another to be formally completed. In the meantime, that student is counted at absent. Trustee Smith agreed that Flin Flon's attendance rate may be misleading since Many Faces students often complete their work outside of the classroom. 'A lot of these students are working at home, they've got jobs or whatever,' he said. 'Staff know and they know that they're not going to be like a regular kid coming five days a week, nine to four. But they'll get their work, they'll be at home, they'll do their work, they'll come back three or four days later (with) their work done. That's the nature of alternate schools.' Many Faces had by far the lowest attendance rate of local schools last year at 70.6 per cent, though with just 70 students, a small number of absences can easily skew the rate. Ecole McIsaac School was the only local school to meet or exceed the provincial average with an attendance rate of 94.63 per cent. Ruth Betts Community School had a rate of 92.98 per cent, while Hapnot Collegiate's rate was 91.6 per cent. The provincial rate was 93.63 per cent. The attendance report also shows that throughout last year, 74 students transferred out of the school division while 33 students transferred in.
