Is Manitoba seeing high levels of absenteeism now that in-person school is back?

Manitoba schools officially reopened to in-person learning on Monday following an extended winter break and a week of remote learning.

The Manitoba government said it is taking a phased-in approach with its return-to-school plan in part to give school divisions an opportunity to deal with potential absenteeism brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CTV News Winnipeg reached out to a number of school divisions to find out their absentee numbers for the first day back:

• The Seven Oaks School Divison said 59 teachers and 47 educational assistants were absent, which is a little below normal. The school division said about 16 per cent of students are absent, which is about double the normal amount. According to the superintendent, some students are absent due to hesitancy about returning to school; because they are isolating; or they tested positive on a rapid test;
• The Pembina Trails School Division said 93 per cent of its teachers are at school on Monday. Of those that are away, the division had a 94 per cent fill rate. The Pembina Trails School Division was unable to provide student absentee numbers; and
• The Louis Riel School Division said 85 of its 1,177 teachers were absent Monday. It noted 27 of these absences were COVID-related, which includes positive cases, isolation or symptoms. The division said 2,704 students out of more than 15,645 were away for at least a portion of the day, specifying this was for any reason. It said for context, two years ago before the pandemic, there were 1,982 students away.
• The River East Transcona School Division said it had 38 teachers away sick on Monday, about four per cent of the workforce in the division. It did not have the number of student absences immediately available.

CTV News Winnipeg has reached out to the Winnipeg School Division and St. James-Assiniboia School Division for their numbers.