Lack of Sickness Spike Increases Workflow of Students

Beginning in the entirety of December stretching into the present, there has been a spike of illnesses in residents of Philadelphia. However, at Carver E&S, all types of illnesses have affected our attendance considerably. Since last school year, our overall absences have dropped and our attendance has improved, which is more prominent during these times of widespread sickness.

In 30 states, there has recently been a very high spike in cases of respiratory illnesses such as covid, RSV, and the flu. This is somewhat normal, as cases of these sickness in general rise at around this time annually.

 “Probably just all in the last month, like every single day”, said Curtis Kelly, a student from our school after being asked when he was sick.

According to the tracked attendance of every absence and lateness ranging from the beginning of last school year to the present, our school is quite a special case in this precedent. Using the sample size of December 1-22 of 2022, the average amount of absences (median) is 121. Using the sample size of December 1-22 of 2023 on the other hand, the average amount of absences is 66. Roughly 15% of all absences are due to ilness, so these numbers are, in reality roughly 18.15 and 9.9 respectively.

“Well when I was at home for my sickness, I decided not to come to school because I didn’t want to spread it to others to put them in the situation I was in.”, said Josiah Thomas, who was sick last school year, where there was a higher rise than this school year.

But the question that strikes is, what does all of this data have to do with Carver? To put it simply, when students our visually present in a class, they are to learn more than students that are suffering from illness at home, not immediately prioritizing what's going on at school. In certain cases, where you have more work or studying to do for one class than another, the sick student can create their own schedule for themselves at home, as where if they were at school, they couldn't have unscheduled time to do work in specific time frame, due to the school's set schedule. 

“I missed a lesson, and then a test in Mr. Lick’s class and I had to do it on another day. The extra time I had to study because I was sick the Thursday and Friday before the weekend helped me pass it.”, said Ike Bermeo, a student from our school. “I feel like it helped me study more and realize that even if I’m sick for a day, it doesn't mean I don’t still have to do my work and stuff. I think I can do work while sick, unless it’s like really bad."