A new initiative in the Anglophone East School District aims to help reduce absences taken because of sickness.
“Everyday Counts” matches employees to resources they might need when they use a certain number of sick days.
Superintendent Gregg Ingersoll says at 5 days missed they speak with the employee about possible resources that can help.
“When the employee reaches 10 days of sick days missed in a school year they automatically get referred to a third party who will contact them and offer them further resources to support whatever the issue is that’s causing them to miss time,” says Ingersoll.
He says on any given day during the school year, they could have a couple dozen to a couple hundred teachers they need to cover for, all at a cost of approximately $240 per day.
Ingersoll says the province spent $30 million last year to cover for sick days and so far this program appears to be reducing the number of days needed by staff although further research is needed as it is still early days.
