THUNDER BAY – NEWS – Schools under the Lakehead Board of Education are seeing student and staff absences of up to almost fifty per cent.
![Lakehead Board of Education Absences](https://www.netnewsledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Lakehead-Board-of-Ed-School-Absentism.jpg)
Ogden School has a 41.1 per cent absentee rate, Algonquin is at 44.7 per cent. St James School is at 42.4 percent. The Lakehead Adult Learning Centre is at 51.2 percent absences.
It is not clear what has the increased absentee numbers, as schools are not required to report COVID-19 cases at present.
New rules on masking are in place.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit has held vaccine clinics in area schools.