THUNDER BAY — A solid majority of parents in the Thunder Bay region's French-language school system support sending their children back to class this fall.
Seventy-nine per cent of parents who participated in a survey conducted by the Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boreales said they favour the idea, provided adequate health and safety protocols are in place.
The support level is higher – 84 per cent – if the school board were to adopt a blended approach to learning, in which students would spend spend part of the week at school, and part at home.
But Mireille Major-Levesque, superintendent of education, says it's clear that most parents want their kids in school, "regardless of the model, whether it be the traditional learning model or a blended learning model."
The same survey asked parents if they are willing to send their children on the school bus, and 84 per cent replied in the affirmative.
With the number of new daily COVID-19 cases declining in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said Monday, “Let me be clear, I want to see every child in Ontario back to school, full-time, this September.”
In June, the government released three potential plans for how schools will operate this fall, including the continued use of remote learning strengthened by live instruction.
Major-Levesque declined to speculate on what the final choice will be, but she said many families struggled to cope with learning at home during the last four months of the recent school year.
"Families found themselves in all kinds of situations, stressful situations, and juggling at-home learning with working at home or not working at all. The survey allowed us to get some good feedback on that experience, and what we should change to make it better," she said.
Major-Levesque said the board recognizes that it's difficult for families to get ready for the new school year without knowing with certainty how their children will be taught.
"The best thing would be to start preparing your kids for going back, whether going back out in public or going back to school, what the social measures are, and the differences from before. Hang in there. Our answers are coming eventually. The ministry will tell us which model they will choose," she said.
The French-language board has a total enrollment of 875, including 235 students at La Verendrye high school and 312 at Franco Superieur elementary school in Thunder Bay.
Another 328 students attend schools in Marathon, Terrace Bay, Longlac, Nakina, Geraldton, Ignace, Dryden and Red Lake.
