A Hamilton school board director who’s overseeing the return of students in the fall says the first day will be after Labour Day, but he’s not sure what going back to school will look like.
On Tuesday, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) informed parents, guardians and students of three potential scenarios for a return in September amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Associate Director of the HWDSB Peter Sovran says the scenarios, based on provincial guidelines announced in June, are either a full return, a partial return with reduced class sizes or the continuation of remote learning.
“That is either a whole return with some enhanced public health measures being put in place, a partial return or an adaptive return where we see reduced class sizes each day with a cohorting of students, and then the third scenario, which is the one that we’ve been in really since the closure in the middle of March,” Sorvan told Global News.
The second option involves a “blended approach”, in which students would split time between online learning and in-person attendance in rotation models with up to 15 students per class, per day.
The move would split students into two cohort groups with one attending Mondays, Wednesdays and every other Friday, and the other Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Friday.
Sorvan says the school board is also using summer programs and summer learning, particularly for students who have learning disabilities, to “bridge gaps” in preparation for a full return to classrooms.
Executive director with People for Education, Annie Kidder, says teachers and support staff will simply have to be “ready for anything.”
“They may start out the year on whatever date, we don’t even know that, and then suddenly have to change,” said Kidder.
The concern for the advocacy group is the lack of sustainability for families should the restart happen while the province is still in Stage 3 of its COVID-19 reopening plan.
“There still has to be all the physical distancing, which probably means that kids are going to be doing some of their learning online, which means the other big problem that is not being paid attention to is the fact that that’s not sustainable — that for lots and lots of families, they cannot support their kids at home.”
Sorvan agrees that the most effective scenario for students, staff and families would be the full return in September.
“The full return is, again, one of those scenarios that we’re certainly hopeful that the public health circumstance would allow us to be able to return that way,” Sorvan said.
“So we’re going to await the direction from the minister in and around August the 4th.”
During the province’s pandemic update last week, education minister Stephen Lecce said the ministry is still targeting a full return in September but admitted that would be up to the doctors at the province’s COVID-19 command table.
As for support for families should there not be a full return in the fall, Lecce said families can apply for the grant for student needs offered by all boards of education.
Meanwhile, the Hamilton-Wentworth District Catholic School Board has not yet released its plan for the fall. On July 6 the board said, in a release, it’s timeline would be revealed in late summer.
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