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TDSB delays start of high school by two days, to next Thursday

Thestar.com
Sept. 10, 2020
Kristin Rushowy

Toronto public high school students will return to school next Thursday -- a two-day delay the board requested to get staffing and schedules in place.

At a virtual meeting Wednesday afternoon, trustees were told that the start date of Tuesday, Sept. 15 is now pushed to Thursday, Sept. 17 for all students, except those in special education programs.

“Given the complexities of the staffing and timetable process, we have adjusted the start dates of secondary school, in-person and virtual,” trustees were told.

On Tuesday, “students attending special education congregated sites and students attending intensive support programs (developmentally delayed) in secondary schools” will begin, “and follow a semester program,” the board said.

Meanwhile, “all other secondary programs begin” on Thursday, including those attending integrated programs -- such as those for students with autism or in gifted classes -- in a “quadmester” schedule, where they take two courses at a time for roughly two months, attending every other morning for almost four hours, before heading home for live, online learning.

The Toronto District School Board, the country’s largest, scrambled to redo its high school plans after the ministry of education said it wanted more in-person time for teens.

The board, with permission from the province, like some others already delayed the start of all classes a week, which were supposed to start Sept. 8.

Many secondary teachers are still in the dark about what they are teaching this fall, and if they are to be in a school or online.

While some have opted for virtual schooling for health reasons, with about 30 per cent of students optng for at home learning, other teachers will be reassigned.

“It is still unacceptable that TDSB secondary teachers will not know what they are teaching, or where, until at the earliest, a week before the new student start date,” said Leslie Wolfe, president of the Toronto local of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.

“We hope the additional days are available to high school teachers solely for them to prepare to welcome and teach their students.”

Teens are still awaiting their timetables.