With roughly three weeks to go until students are back in class, the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) is outlining how the 2021-22 school year will differ from the 2020-21 school year.
It won’t be a complete return to the way things were before the COVID-19 pandemic, but director of education Mark Fisher says “we are going to be reintroducing many of those things that make school very enjoyable for kids.”
“We will be starting up with our extracurriculars, our sports teams, our bands, our drama clubs,” Fisher told Global News’ Mike Stubbs.
“All those things that you loved about attending school pre-pandemic will be back, but rest assured that we’re also going to have extensive health and safety protocols.”
The full interview with Fisher will air Tuesday, Aug. 17 at 8:15 a.m. on Global News Radio 980 CFPL.
In-person learning
According to Fisher, roughly 96 per cent of students will be learning face-to-face in September, with the rest learning virtually. Students will be required to wear masks in school but don’t have to wear masks before and after school or at recess. Students will also be able to play with different groups of kids instead of just sticking to their cohort.
Fisher says over $60 million has been spent on improvements to ventilation systems within the TVDSB over the last five years, including $15 million this summer.
“We do have approximately 11 schools out of our 161 that don’t have mechanical exchange systems. So we have ordered 1,400 what they call HEPA filters, which are portable air exchange systems, and they’ll be put in all of those classrooms in those schools,” Fisher said.
“We’ll certainly be encouraging schools to keep those windows open. And we know this is just another layer of protection in addition to all of those other health and safety protocols that we’re putting in place.”
In-person learning will look a lot like it did last school year for elementary-aged students, though students will no longer have to stick to their cohort outside of the classroom, Fisher says.
For secondary school students, the board is moving away from the quadmester approach to what’s been dubbed a “modified semester.”
“It’s not quite the way it was pre-pandemic, but it’s closer. Kids will have two periods a day for one week and then different periods a day for the following week, and they’ll rotate through that. We’re calling that a modified semester system. We think that’s going to be more engaging for our students.”
For all students, masking will be required indoors in school, as well as on school vehicles. Masks can be removed for eating and drinking and when outdoors.
The TVDSB says students must not go to school if they have symptoms or feel sick and daily screening will be required for all students before they get to school or use school transportation.
The board says it will also continue to follow many of the cleaning and disinfection protocols established last year.
Outside of class
As mentioned, students will no longer be confined to their cohorts when socializing before and after school or doing recess.
Fisher adds that many extracurricular activities will return, though final details are still being sorted out and some limitations will be in place.
“The music programs will be permitted. There are some limitations in terms of some wind instruments. We do know that singing will be permitted with social distancing and potentially cohorting. We’re just waiting for some of the details on the specifics, but we will make it work.”
The return of many sports is less certain, though Fisher is “very optimistic that we’ll get most, if not all of those activities back this year.”
“We’re waiting for direction. There’s a governing body called OFSAA and Ophea and they’re really around the specific guidelines and everything I’m hearing is that I’m very cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to reintroduce those very valuable sports to our school programs this year. So fingers crossed, I’ll be out on the sidelines watching some games in the fall.”
Contingency plans
If it becomes necessary to return to large-scale online learning, the TVDSB is ready, Fisher says.
He added that the previous school year “was a great test for us” and the board now has the necessary infrastructure in place to support quick pivots to online learning.
“We’ve distributed tens of thousands of devices out to the broader community. Our entire teaching force has been trained on our approved digital platforms. So we are certainly ready literally at a moment’s notice to make that shift,” he said.
“If for some reason that we have to shift an individual class or an individual student to a remote learning scenario for a short period of time, then we have that digital platform to kind of back up.”
Fisher also encourages anyone eligible who has yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to do so.
“The information we have from the health units is the higher percentage of staff and students that are vaccinated, the safer it will be for everybody.”
Further information on the TVDSB’s back-to-school plans can be found on the board’s website.
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