N.B. students miss 250,000 days in November, data shows

New Brunswick students missed a combined total of about 250,000 days in November, the latest data from the Department of Education shows.

That's an average of 2.5 missed days for each of the province's approximately 100,000 public school students.

It's roughly 70,000 more absentee days than in October, when the provincial average was under two days.

The sharp increase occurred during a surge in cases of COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, across the province, but the department says it doesn't know the reasons behind the student absences.

Elementary, middle and high school levels all saw increases, across both the anglophone and francophone sectors, the data shows.

In the anglophone districts, students in kindergarten to Grade 8 missed an average of 2.7 days of school in November, compared to 1.9 days in October — a 42.1 per cent jump.

Among anglophone students in grades 9 to 12, the average number of days absent was 3.2 days in November, up 28 per cent from the average 2.5 days in October.

In the francophone districts, students in kindergarten to Grade 8 were absent an average of 1.7 days in November. That's a 54.5 per cent rise over the average 1.1 days missed in October.

Francophone students in grades 9 to 12, meanwhile, missed an average of 2.2 days in November, compared to 1.6 days in October — a 37.5 per cent increase.

The data, supplied to the department by the anglophone and francophone sectors, does not indicate why a student may be absent, said department spokesperson Morgan Bell.

"A student could be absent for many reasons including dental and medical appointments, sickness or personal/family reasons and matters related to COVID-19," she said in an emailed statement.

The department did not provide November attendance for individual schools, but did provide a breakdown of the absence data by district, which is included at the bottom of this story. The average November absences for 2021 and 2020 were also provided.

Although the November 2022 absences are the highest of the November rates so far this pandemic, the 2021 attendance is based on only the last two weeks of the month, said Bell. That's because schools were closed due to a strike by support staff and bus drivers, she confirmed.

Of the seven school districts, only Francophone School District – North West responded to a request to provide absences broken down by schools.