Hamilton’s public school board gave a glimpse of what in-person classes will be like when the city’s secondary students head back to school in September amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ventilation, cohorting, and face coverings were top of mind for board director Manny Figueiredo during the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s (HWDSB) walk-thru at Ancaster High on Tuesday.
Figueiredo says the “modelling” of personal protective equipment (PPE) from staff during a school day will be essential in encouraging the student body to remain diligent in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
“So it’ll be our superintendents, our principals, our educators in schools to reinforce this. It’ll be essential that, as adults, we’re modelling those behaviours,” Figueiredo said.
Both students and teachers will have to wear masks during the school year, but teachers will have an added safeguard in the form of a visor that will be supplied by the school board, according to Figueiredo.
“I know it’s an adjustment for people, but it’s an extra precaution that’s a significant expectation from the ministry,” Figueiredo said.
Teachers will get 10 medical masks for the week in addition to the visor. Each classroom will have a bottle of hand sanitizer. Special education supports teachers will get the added protection of gowns in instances where physical contact with a student is required.
The school board will also use provincial funding to purchase 150 air purifiers to aid older buildings with air quality issues based on the results of third party inspection reports.
“They will be dispersed based on those inspection reports,” Figueiredo said. “What I have heard from the city’s management team is that it’s really about the airflow in some of these spaces.”
With high school students going back in cohorts of just 15 students on alternating days, each classroom will have 15 desks spaced two metres apart.
Hallways will have physical distancing signs, water fountains will be covered, and lockers will not be used. Students will carry their backpacks throughout the school.
Figueiredo says physical distancing in hallways will be required with principals, teachers and even caretakers pitching in to enforce the protocol.
Elementary class sizes shrink to 21 students
Average class sizes of 21 students are expected from Kindergarten through Grade 8 for the start of the school year, made possible through the hiring of 80 additional teachers and the decision by 6,300 elementary students to opt for online learning.
Training for elementary and secondary staff continues this week in preparation for the staggered start next week, which will see the student body split over the first two days on Sept. 14 and 15 before a complete return on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Extra-curricular activities on hold
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Although Figueiredo believes “learning is social,” he says dances, assemblies, sports and other extra-curricular activities will be put on hold at least until the end of the month.
“They are on pause till the end of September. We’re going to actually hold off,” Figueiredo said. “We have to establish our new routines first with our students and our staff.”
School Outbreak Management Protocol
The HWDSB says an outbreak protocol for schools is expected to be publically released at the end of the week.
Figueiredo said the process would outline what action schools would take should there be a confirmed case of coronavirus within a public elementary or high school.
School bus program still unresolved
Despite a contribution of $400,000 from the province to reduce the number of students on Hamilton buses, HWDSB chair Alex Johnstone said the board’s situation with bus drivers continues to be challenging due to on-going driver shortages prior to the pandemic.
“It’s an area that has been identified by our board and boards across the province as an area that’s underfunded,” Johnstone said. “Of course, now that we are in the middle of a pandemic, those concerns are exasperated.”
Figueiredo said buses will also have the same cohort rules as classrooms with students in numbers of 15 being loaded together with an empty row between the driver and the passengers.
However, outside of social distancing rules on the buses, the board has no projections on how many students will require transportation and what the board will need to adequately serve those students.
The bus consortium, which is a joint venture between the HWDSB and Hamilton’s catholic school board, has been traditionally short by about 20 to 25 bus drivers over the past three years, according to Figueiredo.
Trustees at one point did consider adding 125 more routes at a cost of $2.5 million to the month of December as a resolution to the problem. But school board staff suggested against it, saying they were not confident they would have enough drivers to deliver.
Figueiredo said the board will continue to work on solutions in the coming week, which could include study hall time for students who would have to wait for a ride home.
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