Boards and teachers await details on two-week shutdown

Thestar.com
March 16, 2020
Kristin Rushowy

Some teachers have already started sending emails to parents saying they will provide work for students during the two weeks after March Break, as boards await details from the government over the unprecedented, province-wide school shutdown.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce is expected to soon provide direction on alternative learning plans for kids, given they don’t return to school until April 6 in a bid to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

A ministry source said while plans are still in the works, boards will be expected to encourage teachers to “prepare and keep in touch with students.”

So far, boards have only been saying that educators must be “available” during the two-week hiatus.

On Thursday, Lecce took the unprecedented step of ordering that all 4,800 public schools in the province be shut down for two weeks following next week’s March Break, impacting two million students.

Ontario was the first province to take such a drastic step, Quebec has since followed suit and Manitoba is cancelling classes for three weeks.

Earlier in the week, the New Brunswick government banned any staff or students who travel outside of Canada -- including to the United States -- from its schools and daycares for two weeks, and the English Montreal School Board said anyone who visited the hardest-hit countries to stay home, even if they are well.

“I want every parent and family to know with confidence that when their child returns to school, they will be in a safe and healthy learning environment,” Lecce said Thursday afternoon.

Countries around the world have also shuttered schools and as of Friday, more than 46,000 American schools -- public and private -- had been closed or are set to close, according to EdWeek, impacting some 26 million students.

On their last day with students before the three-week break, a number of Ontario teachers gave their students things to do during the extended time off.

One Hamilton-Wentworth English teacher, whose twitter handle is @colleencourt, tweeted that she “spent the morning connecting kids with books for the three weeks we won’t be together. In an anxious time, it was healing to see them excited to take stacks home.”

A number of teachers also began reaching out to families, telling their students where they can communicate with teachers and ask questions and that Google classroom will be updated with lessons.

One Toronto high school history teacher told teens to bring home their textbooks, and that she would post materials online, though noted to parents in an email that “online work is not nearly as deep and rich as what we do in the classroom, so this will only be a starting point for deep learning upon our return.”

Another said “with less than 24 hours, I prepared the appropriate amount of work for students to do due to the extended break.”

“A lot of students are worried about their courses,” said NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles.

“ They need to be reassured that they will get the support they need, today and when school resumes. Parents will need guidance about how to help their kids and how to manage fears and anxiety.”

The Greater Essex County District School Board said in a statement that “staff members have been notified regarding their obligations and responsibilities during this period. Home study and educational resources for students will be posted on the board website,” but that “there is no expectation that teachers will provide work to students for this period.”

However, the board said, teachers “must be available “to the employer” as of March 23, and it expects they will check emails and phone messages each day.

Boards also noted the mandatory Grade 10 literacy test, scheduled for the end of the month, won’t happen and it is unclear when it will be rescheduled.

The Lambton-Kent District School Board said teachers can use “online tools to support student learning” -- but none of the work will be a part of kids’ grades. It also said all schools will receive a “deep cleaning” during the shutdown.

The Toronto Catholic board sent a memo saying that during the break, schools will be supplied with hand sanitizer, washrooms will be stocked with soap and paper towels and “custodial staff will focus their efforts on disinfection of all schools.”

Harvey Bischof, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said the union is expecting to hear over the March Break from school boards and the province about their expectations for educators.

“It’s a rapidly developing situation,” he said, adding the lack of information is to be expected.

His union has sent letters to the ministry and school board associations saying it would “co-operate with them in any fashion to keep students safe. That we’ll do our best to deal with a difficult situation.”