Three Valley Schools, including Su Valley, see absence rates near or above 40%

Some Mat-Su Borough Schools, including Susitna Valley Junior-Senior High School, ended last week with a spike in absences.

Data available as of Monday afternoon showed both Redington and Su Valley posting absence rates just over forty-five percent.  Palmer High also saw an increase in absence rate, rising to just under forty percent.

While it is not immediately clear from the available data if those absences are directly linked to COVID-19, all three schools saw case counts in the double digits within the seven preceding days.  According to the criteria established by the school district’s COVID-19 data dashboard, those reported cases are all instances where students were within the contagious period of COVID-19 while at school.

Last week, the school district relaxed mask requirements for schools in its “medium risk” category.  All three schools near or above forty percent absence rate fall into the medium risk category.

The highest absence rates at the end of last week were at or under thirty percent.  In an interview before the most recent data was published, Superintendent Dr. Randy Trani spoke about the absence rates.

“There hasn’t been [a situation] since Delta where half of the students are out.  When we think about the services we provide across our communities, if we have three-quarters of our students who can come to school, we want to keep school open.”

Trani says the current measure of whether to keep a school open is dependent on the ability to provide adequate staff.