Even by the end of the year, attendance wasn’t back to normal. School attendance in Tai Tokerau has been stubbornly low; in 2020, the proportion of children attending school regularly was 52 per cent, compared to 64 per cent nationally. Schools reported losing students due to the pandemic – either because senior students left school to find work, families moved out of the area because of job losses, or parents were worried about their children being exposed to Covid in the classroom. Myles Ferris, the president of Te Akatea Māori Principals’ Association and principal of Whangārei's Ōtangarei School, said the school would decide before term starts next Tuesday whether to reintroduce level 2 precautions like keeping visitors off school grounds.