An attendance support worker has been hired for the Strait Regional School Board.
The position started Wednesday.
Sharon MacCuspic, the board’s director of programs and student services, says the new hire will be mainly situated at Dr. John Hugh Gillis High in Antigonish to start, and will also serve students at two of Dr. J.H. Gillis’ feeder schools- Antigonish Education Centre and St. Andrew Junior School.
She says the hire is a result of the new Student Attendance and Engagement policy from provincial officials, which became effective Oct. 1.
After January’s regular board meeting Wednesday, MacCuspic said they reviewed data before they chose the location for the hire.
“We looked at long-term trends in attendance data,” she said. “We determined that, based on that data in this current (2017-18) school year, that school would be the place that we would focus our attention to begin with the one position that we were awarded.”
MacCuspic said the worker will enforce the provincial policy.
She said they want issues to be addressed.
“We’re hopeful that this position, because it is a focused position on supporting students and their families, will be able to identify those barriers that are preventing students from attending on a regular basis, and increase their success in schools.”
MacCuspic said they hope those types of positions will be expanded throughout the board in the future.