THUNDER BAY - While no official announcement has been made yet, premier Doug Ford said it is unlikely students will be returning to the classroom on April 6 and the Lakehead Public School Board is preparing online education alternatives.
All Ontario public schools have been closed since March 14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and with that closure expected to continue past the original reopening date of April 6, schools are preparing to go online.
A.J. Keene, superintendent of education with the Lakehead Public School Board, said the board is still looking at what the needs of students, staff, and families are to prepare for the rollout.
This week a survey was sent to staff and families with children in the Lakehead Public Board to find out what the technology and internet needs are for households.
“In one day we’ve had about 3,000 responses, so it goes to show how interested parents are in moving forward with phase two of the continuity learning plan,” Keene said. “We hope by the end of tomorrow those will have trickled in and come to a bit of a stand still and we will give that to our principals and they will look at their class lists and determine which parents we haven’t been able to contact and they will reach out by other means.”
Keene said they are hoping to have all the responses in place by mid-week and put a plan in place to get devices such as laptops out to students who may need them.
“We have to be in consultation with the Health Unit and we are in conversation with TbayTel to see what kind of local supports they can provide for access to our kids as well,” he said.
According to Keene, the Ministry of Education has indicated there are no concerns about students losing the academic year due to schools being closed and Grade 12 students will be able to graduate, though certain requirements, such as the Ontario Secondary School Literary Test have been cancelled.
“We do know special attention will be paid to our Grade 12 students as they look to complete their courses and apply to university,” Keene said. “So we are anxious about the ministry’s direction with that regard.”
Details are still being worked out for students who may not have access to the internet, which could include paper packages, but there are still challenges.
“It sounds like an easy thing, but right now we don’t have access to our schools or our staff,” Keene said. “We have many limits in place that are put forward by the government, so we can’t have more than five people in a building at one time.”
It will also be a challenge for teachers, particularly elementary teachers who do not use as many online learning tools as secondary school teachers.
Other courses, such as tech, art, and gym, may not be included in the core subjects as part of the online learning, but Keene said there might be workarounds for these subjects, as well as assisting students with special needs.
“We think teachers will be able to find a way to manage those courses that aren’t as easy,” Keene said. “We know our special needs students have unique needs and we have a whole department putting together a plan for that to identify their needs and providing some of the materials and equipment they would normally have at school to their families.”
There is still no definitive date for when this will start to rollout. Keene said they will not be in a position to proceed on April 6, but he hopes soon after.
This is an unprecedented situation for school boards across the province but with the help of students, staff, and the community coming together, Keene said it can succeed.
“We had a preparedness and response plan for an influenza outbreak, but that had to be rewritten,” he said. “This is unprecedented. We’ve never seen anything like this before. What’s great is the coming together of the community and staff.”