Nearly 93% of Hamilton schools have a 10% absence rate — with one above 30%

Over nine out of every 10 publicly funded schools in the Hamilton area had a double-digit absence rate on Monday, which was two weeks to the day since the province rescinded mandatory masking.

The number of schools where 15 per cent of staff and students were away on Monday is also thrice as high as it was 25 days earlier, on March 10.

That was that point when, just prior to March Break, the Ontario government acted on the direction from Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore and included schools in relaxed COVID-19 safety measures. Masking is now only recommended for students and education workers.

The Children’s Health Coalition, a Toronto-based advocacy group that includes McMaster’s Children Hospital in Hamilton called for keeping mask rules for at least two weeks past March Break. The CHC believed that would help evaluate the effects of a broader reopening of Ontario.

Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, where vaccine uptake among younger children is higher than in Ontario and Hamilton, continue to require masks in schools. Some Southern Ontario school boards, including Dufferin-Peel Catholic and Toronto public, have recently resumed informing school communities about COVID-19 cases.

Ontario’s mininum requirement is for schools to report the absence rate of their entire population — staff and students — every afternoon. The figures are uploaded around 10:30 a.m. the next day, creating a one-day lag. It is unknown how much COVID-19 contributes to the absence rate in any given school. The scarcity of PCR tests and variances in caregivers’ capability to stay at home to look after young children might potentially contribute to infected children attending school.

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On Monday (April 4), 132 out of 142 schools from the four public boards in Hamilton — that is 92.96 per cent — reported a 10% absence rate. That was much higher than on March 10, when 58.22 per cent of schools reporting said at least 10% of their population was not present.

Sixty-four schools, or 45.07 per cent, said 15 per cent of staff and students were absent. In comparison, only 18 schools, or 12.33 per cent of those that reported that day, were at 15% or more on March 10.

The highest reported absence rate on March 10 was 21.2 per cent. That would have been the eighth-highest in Hamilton on Monday.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board was one of the only local boards in Ontario that extended masking for two weeks after March Break, with trustees voting to follow the advice of the CHC. (The initial vote was for four weeks, before a second vote was taken.)

The board contended that Ontario Ministry of Education direction represents a minimum standard. Trustees also said they belived abruptly rescinding the rules could violate students’ right to education, since there is a time lag when a student switches from in-person learning to remote learning.

Cootes Paradise Public School in Westdale had a city-high 30.9 absence rate on Monday. It was one of three schools to report at least a 25% absence rate, and one of 11 at 20% or higher.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Elementary School in Stoney Creek reported a city-low 3.8 absence rate. It was the only school among four boards that was under 5 per cent on Monday.Private schools are not required to report absence data to the province.

Here are the 10 who were in single digits:

• Immaculate Heart of Mary (3.8%)
• St. David Catholic (5.7%)
• St. Ann — Hamilton (6%)
• Dalewood Sr PS (7.6%)
• Saltfleet HS (8.1%)
• Frank Panabaker North (8.8%)
• James MacDonald PS (8.8%)
• St. Ann — Ancaster  (9%)
• ÉSAC Mère-Teresa (9%)
• Glendale SS (9.6)

Ontario has seen a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the last week. At last count, there are 1,091 people hospitalized with COVID-19.

Generally, children and younger adults are not as vulnerable to more severe outcomes from the virus. Public Health Ontario data, as of Monday, shows that small children under age 5 who are not old enough to receive a vaccine have a hospitalization rate that is five times higher older children and youths.

The hospitalization rate among 0- to 4-year-old children is 7.6 per 100,000, based on 55 total admissions. It is 1.3 among 5- to 11-year-olds, and 1.5 among 12- to 19-year-olds.