Province promises ‘proactive approach’ to truancy fight

The Kinew government is drafting legislative changes to better track schoolchildren and ensure more of them attend classes regularly.

Premier Wab Kinew revealed the “Reach Out, Reach Up” initiative is a priority for this session, but few details were included in the Nov. 18 throne speech.

The program will address chronic absenteeism in kindergarten-to-Grade 12 schools, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt told the Free Press.

Schmidt said she wants to shift from treating spotty attendance on a reactive, case-by-case basis “to a more systemic, proactive approach.”

She did not commit to doing away with truancy officers — school division employees who knock on doors when students aren’t at school — but the minister said she is looking at other ways to locate students who are chronically absent or “missing” altogether.

Following a decade of advocacy on the truancy file, Kent Dueck is skeptical about the rebrand’s purpose and outcomes.

“I’m pretty jaded,” Dueck said, noting he’s received “a lot of patronizing pats on the head” over the years.

Inner City Youth Alive released a film last month on the high rate of absenteeism in the North End and surrounding communities the faith-based organization serves.

Dueck, executive director of the non-profit located at 418 Aberdeen Ave., produced the 50-minute documentary, which can be seen on YouTube.

Absent is a collection of video interviews with students who have avoided school in the past, as well as teachers and caregivers. It explores how the legacy of residential schools and complex family dynamics affect engagement in modern-day public schools.

Leland, one student, recalls spending his days sleeping and doing chores when he “wasn’t really in school for two years” — a tumultuous period that began because of “a lost file.”

“It’s not surprising that our young people don’t see the value of it, especially when you think of the fact that for generations, schools meant being abducted,” consultant Kyle Mason, who specializes in Indigenous relations, reconciliation and non-profit operations, said in the documentary.

The film’s producer found some inner-city schools have absenteeism rates that regularly exceed 70 per cent and Indigenous students are missing in greater numbers than their non-Indigenous peers.

In his documentary and in an interview, Dueck criticized Progressive Conservative and NDP governments for their ineffective approaches to truancy.

He was tapped to serve as a community representative on the education department’s attendance task force when it was active between April 2019 and June 2022.

Despite his role, Dueck said it was a struggle to get ahold of useful data to inform the committee’s work.

The Free Press recently sought a breakdown of chronic absenteeism rates in school divisions across Manitoba between January and June of this year.

Manitoba Education replied — via freedom-of-information officer — that there were “no responsive records.”

Dueck’s organization operates an education-specific outreach unit that spends up to 800 hours per month partnering with families and catchment schools.

Four employees, including three outreach workers, work with young participants to identify barriers, provide mentoring and tutoring services and help guardians with registration. Employees pursue tips about truancy in the community.

The team recently met two children, who are supposed to be in Grade 2 and 4, respectively. “They had never attended a single day of school,” Dueck said.

He indicated that many of the reasons students do not attend school are “unpalatable.”

Among common challenges, children may live in an abusive household, fear for their safety due to bullying or be responsible for taking care of younger siblings and caregivers, the executive director said.

Schmidt acknowledged there could be far greater coordination across government departments, as well as between Manitoba Education and community-based agencies.

“We are contemplating changes to how pupil files are managed,” she said.

The mother of three said she plans to reach out to Dueck, as well as other community leaders who are passionate about this topic, to inform the rollout of Reach Out, Reach Up.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca