School district data shows spike in teachers calling in sick after March break

Two weeks after the New Brunswick government dropped all COVID-19 restrictions, some New Brunswick school districts are reporting increases in the rate of teachers calling in sick, along with challenges finding replacements for them.

From March 21 to 25, Anglophone School District South recorded an average of 155 teachers calling in sick every day, said superintendent Zoë Watson, in an email to CBC News.

That's compared to the average of 127 daily absences from Feb. 28 to March 4 — the week before March break — and an average of 86 prior to the pandemic beginning in February 2020.

Anglophone School District West has seen similar increases in teachers calling in sick, as revealed in an email by spokesperson Jennifer Read.

For the week of Feb. 24 to 28, 2020, prior to the pandemic, the total number of sick-days taken by teachers was 479.

That figure stood at 681 for the week of Feb. 28 to March 4 of this year, and climbed to 794 for the week of March 21 to 25, 2022.

Meredith Caissie, spokesperson for Anglophone School District North, in an email, said there were an average of 130 daily absences for the month of March, which include maternity and sick leave. That's compared to 92 seen in the first week of February, 2022 and anywhere from 65 to 70 daily absences seen prior to the pandemic, she said.

The figures comes after CBC News asked the province's four anglophone school districts for its latest data on teacher absence rates.

Anglophone School District East was unable to provide data on teacher sick leave by publication time.

Getting enough supply teachers 'challenging'

The responses offer a glimpse into how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect New Brunswick's school system, particularly since the provincial government dropped all restrictions on March 14, the day all students and teachers returned to classes after March break.

In her email, Watson said finding enough supply teachers and balancing coverage among school staff can be "challenging" for schools.

"Since January 31, when students returned to in-person learning, we have divided schools into clusters and hired supply teachers to work each day through February," Watson said.

"After the March Break we extended this until Easter, given the higher than normal rates of sick leave with our teachers.  

"We also have used district based teacher coaches and district subject coordinators to cover for absent teachers, and this practice continues."

Watson said the district has also had vice principals, guidance counsellors and resource teachers volunteer to step in where needed.

"We are very grateful to everyone who is supporting our schools; and especially to our principals and vice principals who are working together to share supply teachers when possible, and to be proactive in looking at their absences."

Watson said retired teachers have also helped fill in for some absences, adding the district continues to add supply teachers to its casuals list.

Since the province dropped all COVID-19 measures, parents and the teachers' union have voiced concerns about the lack of protections against the virus for students and teachers, particularly with the end of mandatory indoor mask use.

The province has held firm in its decision to drop that rule, even as provinces like Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia opted to keep the requirement in schools at least until the end of April.

Watson said the increased absence of teachers has led to lesson plans needing to be modified for individual classes as a result of having a supply teacher.

No schools have closed due to staffing, she said.

We are hopeful by mid-April, vacancies will be more manageable.- Jennifer Read, spokesperson for Anglophone School District West

Anglophone School District West also decided to keep its capacity for supply teachers bolstered for longer than originally intended due to the impact of COVID-19.

"On the heels of March Break and with COVID-19 still pervasive in our system, we made the decision to extend support to schools until April 13," said spokesperson Jennifer Read.

Read said the district currently has 84 supply teachers and 70 casual education assistants assigned to schools until April 13.

"Schools are in touch with the district daily to look at ways to mitigate vacancies if all possibilities are exhausted, and everyone is working together to help out and extend a hand when needed.

"We are hopeful by mid-April, vacancies will be more manageable."

Juggling schedules and staff

Though Anglophone School District East was unable to provide data by deadline, spokesperson Stephanie Patterson, in an email said there are "a few" schools in the district that are facing staffing challenges due to illness.

"These absences are representative of all school staff including teachers, [education assistants], custodians, etc.," she said.

"Our administrators, and school staffs have continued to adapt to the consistent changes and challenges presented by the pandemic and changing Public Health measures in schools."

She said no classes have been left unsupervised during class time, adding that schools have "juggled school and staff schedules" to ensure an adult with teaching experience is supervising classes during the day, and that students are engaged in work.

"The district is communicating with schools daily to ensure there are enough adults in the building to supervise students," she said, adding that no schools have had to close.

Minimal impact up north

While COVID-19 is spreading in northeastern communities, Anglophone School District North has experienced minimal disruptions to operations, said spokesperson Meredith Caissie.

Caissie said the district's schools have access to district staff, also known as "leads," for additional support if they're unable to find adequate coverage.

"To date, schools have only needed to call upon additional leads for support on four days, and no additional supports outside of the district have been required," she said.

"For the most part, schools have been able to fill absences with the pool of supply staff we currently have on hand," she said, adding no schools have had to close.

Regular sharing of student absence data coming

When asked for data on student absences, all districts except Anglophone School District South deferred to the Department of Education.

Superintendent Zoë Watson said between March 14 and 25, students in Kindergarten to Grade 5 had an absence rate of 12 per cent.

The figure for students in grades 6 to 8 was 18 per cent, and for students in grades 9 to 12, it was 31 per cent.

Watson noted that high school attendance is taken per period, meaning just one or more periods missed is counted as a full day absent. Watson also noted the data reflects absences for any reason, including dental appointments, vacation and sick days.

Department of Education spokesperson Flavio Nienov, in an email, said school districts will begin providing absence data on a regular basis beginning next week.

"As for staffing shortages, to date, no schools have been closed since the mandatory COVID-19 restrictions were lifted," Nienov said.

"We recognize that teachers and school administrators have been working hard to ensure classrooms are staffed, and learning is not interrupted. We continue to monitor the situation."