Hamilton Catholic school board reduces class sizes for elementary, says chair

The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) says it will reduce class sizes for kindergarten and students in grades 4 to 8 at the beginning of the school year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Chair Pat Daly told Global News that the plan will knock kindergarten class sizes down to between 19 and 20 from the original estimate of 23, and put 22 to 23 students into classes for grades 4 to 8 at a cost of $3.5 million which will come from its reserve fund and roughly a half a million from the province.

“One of the things clearly that we have looking been looking at is how to promote social distancing within our school buildings and classrooms,” Daly said. “Clearly, class size is a factor in that.”

Daly says between 50 and 55 new classrooms will be needed to accommodate the additional 50 teachers and 15 kindergarten supervisors the board will have to hire to execute the plan.

Daly says there will be no change in plan for students in grades 1-3 as those class sizes will remain at 20.

The HWDCSB’s registration period for choosing in-person and remote learning ended on Thursday, and according to Daly, there were a number of students that did not make the deadline.

“Some parents did not respond, so our principals and other staff in our schools have been following up with each and every parent,” said Daly. “So we’re now down to I think it’s four or five percent of those that we still need to contact.”

Daly estimates that 85 per cent of the student body will be returning in-person with about 15 per cent of students have opted for remote learning exclusively.

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Last week, HWCDSB trustees voted unanimously in favour of staggering school reopening for elementary students as well as mandating the wearing of masks or face coverings for all students from JK to Grade 12.

The staggering of elementary school reopening will occur over the first two weeks of classes and will provide an opportunity for students to learn new health and safety routines.

In mid-August, the school board approved an operating budget of around $400 million for the 2020-21 school year with a capital budget of just under $20 million.

About $1.5 million of that money will be allocated to costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the reopening of Catholic schools.

The money is expected to cover the purchase of personal protection equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies, technology, special education support, student mental health and the hiring of additional custodial staff.

Daly says signs, posters, arrows on the floors promoting social distancing and hand washing will be just some of the changes students will notice when they return to school in September.

“Also, water fountains have been covered so that they will not be permitted to be used, and washrooms will look different as we had exclusively hand dryers — now we will have disposable towels as well,’ said Daly.

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