Toronto-area teachers continue to call in sick at record rates — and in Peel, many are falling ill on Mondays and Fridays, creating long weekends as boards struggle to cope with new policies imposed by the province.

In the Toronto board alone, absences are up as high as 24 per cent over the same period last year, before the changes came in.

In the wake of a Star report showing an increase in absenteeism since teachers were told their sick-day banks were being eliminated, the numbers show the trend continues despite a warning from the education minister that sick days should only be used when they are actually sick.

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And that has left Ontario school boards scrambling to cover a record number of teachers taking time off.

The new data on absences comes on the heels of a controversial Queen’s Park decision to take away teachers’ right to bank unused sick days, and slashed them from 20 to 11 per year.

Teachers with the Toronto District School Board took more sick days in May 2013 than that month the year before, with elementary teachers jumping 24 per per cent year over year, and high school teachers at 18 per cent. There appears to be a pattern to when teachers take those sick days, as numbers from the Peel District School Board show teachers taking more sick days on Mondays and Fridays.

On Friday May 31, 1,104 Peel teachers took sick days for “illness and family responsibility.” On Monday June 3, 820 teachers were sick, followed by 788 teachers on Monday, June 10.

In the midst of a year of labour turmoil, many teachers boycotted extracurricular activities, which angered parents whose children lost out on after-school programs. As summer approaches, a lax pace during the school day has some parents concerned.

Zahra Nasseri’s son, Mehrad Khodai Booran, is in Grade 4 at Market Lane Public School, and she isn’t impressed that he hasn’t been bringing home a lot of homework lately.

“In June, (it’s the) same as summer, as July,” said Nasseri, noting that there have been parties and barbecues.

If you ask Mehrad what he did in school today, he breaks into a big smile.

“We mostly had fun. We played our video games, we watched videos,” he said. They also had a party with cake, drinks and other snacks.

“We’ve had less work for, like, two weeks, because it’s the end.”

Mehrad, 9, says the last time he handed in homework was two weeks ago.

Nasseri, who is from Iran, says she thinks students work harder in her native country. “Everything was a party. It’s just fun. If it’s nothing, why is the school open?”

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Many parents at Market Lane said that they’ve noticed a wind down in schoolwork over the last two weeks, however, other parents gave a nod of approval, saying bring on the ice cream, freezies and water parks of summer.

“It’s the end of the year. There’s really not much left to cover,” said Sonya Stewart, whose daughter Savannah is in Grade 4 at Market Lane and had a party at school on Wednesday.

“We got to have a water balloon fight,” said 9-year-old Savannah. Her older brother Rashawn, 13, is in Grade 7, and said he had a typical day of class — until his teacher surprised them with a party.

“We all got to have fun, hanging out,” said Rashawn. “My teacher brought in his Wii and we played Mario Kart.”

Students at Market Lane received report cards Tuesday, and Thursday is the last day of the TDSB school year.