Ontario's new attendance rules put schools in competition with youth sports

While many teachers have expressed frustration about students’ frequent Thursday and Friday absences for tournaments — with games scheduled on both days, or extra time needed for out-of-town travel for hockey, soccer or dance competitions — they say it will require a culture change in competitive youth sport.

Sports organizations, meanwhile, say tournament schedules have not been adjusted and they worry about the effect of the new policy.

“This will have a huge impact,” said Dean Boles, CEO of Swim Ontario, which has about 7,000 high schoolers on its roster.

“We have a number of competitions that usually take place on Thursday, definitely on Friday,” with some families travelling eight to nine hours to get to the Toronto area, given that’s where the best pools are. 

“Sport delivers so much more than the classroom can do,” he said, adding that those at the top competitive levels can miss 21 to 30 days of school between tournaments and training camps, as pools are often only available during the week.

“I don’t think a lot of thought went into (the new policy) … it’s just reactionary,” he said, adding “the kids who are in sport, the majority of them are pretty good students … they seem to manage their schoolwork.” 

But Calandra said that post-pandemic, “attendance in our schools has collapsed.” He spoke Monday at an unrelated announcement opening the interim site for the Ontario Science Centre at Toronto’s Harbourfront. 

With just 40 per cent of Ontario teens meeting the attendance standard for high school — which is being in class 90 per cent of the time — starting this fall, attendance and participation will count for 15 per cent of the final mark in all Grade 9 and 10 courses, and 10 per cent in grades 11 and 12.

A top “level 4” mark (which is roughly an A) will be for two or fewer “unexcused” absences, meaning those not related to sickness, medical appointments, bad weather, religious observances or sports; a “level 3” (or B) is for those who miss 2.5 to 4.5 classes each semester, and a level 2 for five to 7.5 missed classes.

Chronic absenteeism is when students miss more than 10 per cent of the time — equal to 20 days away — which Calandra said gives families some leeway, but “I’ve heard this from teacher after teacher after teacher … when kids pop in and out of the class, it’s very challenging.”

Education union leaders, however, say the government should have consulted them. 

“Teachers have been saying that student absenteeism is an issue, whether it’s sports or for a variety of other reasons, but this one-size-fits-all approach that he’s implementing isn’t going to work,” said Martha Hradowy, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, who wonders how the rules will be enforced.

“Teachers should have been afforded the professional judgment to be able to determine whether attendance should make up part of the overall mark,” she said. “Individual students have individual circumstances, and teachers know their students best and should be able to assess whether exemptions could be made.”

René Jansen in de Wal, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, said while teachers want solutions to absenteeism, sports are not the main culprit. 

“The problem they are trying to address is unclear,” he said. “Are you trying to change the culture of Ontario, where hockey tournaments start on Fridays? … because this policy doesn’t seem to do that.”

The “most prevalent, problematic absence is because kids are disengaged” and teachers need more support in addressing things like student mental health and anxiety, he said.

For Boles, sports organizations like his would appreciate some clarity from the province, adding students currently have “great rapport with their schools” and teachers and make arrangements for missed work.

“I worry about the impact this new policy will have on student athletes who have already shown an exceptional commitment to both their academics and their sport,” added Anne-Marie Christie Joyce, co-owner and CEO of Beach Cheer Athletics.

“These are young people who have proven they can successfully balance both,” she said, adding the average teen participant misses about five days per school year for competitive cheerleading and tumbling. “My concern is that this policy may force them to choose between pursuing athletic excellence and achieving their academic goals.”

Calandra said the government is “going to monitor this over the next year … and if we have to make some additional modifications, we will.”

He said he’s already heard from the Ontario Hockey League about exemptions for high-level athletes and “obviously, we’ll make some accommodation for that, but I say this again in sports organizations as well: Education is the priority.”

Absenteeism is an issue facing schools around the globe, and some European countries have strict rules around attendance, banning unauthorized absences for things such as travel outside of school holiday times.