The School District of Mystery Lake is trying to drive home the message that attendance is important.

An unofficial report puts the districts attendance rate at 85%, compared to the province’s which is 94%.

Superintendent Lorie Henderson says the absences vary from health reasons, parent requests, truancy, and school trips:

"I know we live in the North and I understand that time away from school for the extracurricular school events, but students are required to keep up with their studies. I also recognize the time away for other reasons that require travel, such as community clubs, dance, hockey- these events are also important for our students. The absences that concern the district are those that are unexcused, in a pattern setting, from a young age". 

Henderson says most of the schools do monthly attendance awards to encourage students to go to school. She says councilors are also running attendance reports and following up on attendance concerns, which is new for this year.

Henderson stresses attendance is very important for student success. She says the Manitoba Association of Parents Council has data that shows if a student misses 2 days of school a month, it adds up to one month of missed school by the end of the year.