Extended school closures after the winter break

BY PAUL JUNOR

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase in Ontario, the provincial government announced on Monday, December 21^st, 2020 that there would be a province-wide shutdown starting December 26^th to January 11^th.

There have been calls by education stakeholders for an extended winter break and the PC-led government has finally complied. Elementary kids will get one more week of winter break and will commence in-person learning on January 11^th, while high school students will commence remote learning on January 4^th with in-person learning restarting January 25^th.

In a news release from the government on December 21^st, Premier Ford states, “the number of daily cases continues to rise putting our hospitals and long-term-care homes at risk. We need to stop the spread of this deadly virus. That is why on the advice of Dr Williams and other health experts, we are taking the difficult but necessary decision to shut down the province and ask people to stay home. Nothing is more important right now than the health and safety of Ontarians.”

Minister of Education, Stephen Leece states in the news release, “while our schools are not a source of rising community transmission; we can play an important part of the solution to save lives from COVID-19. During this period, students will pivot to teacher-led online learning, with childcare provided for our frontline workers. We are taking proactive and preventative action to protect schools following the holiday break to ensure kids can continue in-class learning, something we believe is so important for the remainder of the year.”

In anticipation of the possible extended closure of schools, the Ministry of Education had advised school boards to prepare for this possibility a week before the Christmas break started. In a letter released by the Toronto District School Board, on Friday, December 18^th, 2020, informed stakeholders of this possibility. The letter states, “as we head into the winter break, we wanted to share a brief update with request of a pivot to remote learning in the new year and what this might look like.” The letter informs stakeholders that elementary students will follow their regular school schedule, while secondary students adjust their schedule to a synchronous, asynchronous, independent learning model.

After Premier Ford’s announcement on Monday, December 21^st, 2020, TDSB released a letter to staff, which outlined the changes that were released. Elementary students will stay at home an extra week and return for in-person learning on January 11^th. Students who are enrolled in TDSB virtual school will not be affected by the changes. All grade 9-12 students will learn remotely at home. There will be some adjustments to students’ timetables to accommodate the following two requirements:

• 150 minutes of synchronous learning/online learning
• 75 minutes of asynchronous learning/independent learning

It will be up to the professional judgement of the individual teacher how to schedule synchronous and asynchronous times. Teachers will start their Period 1 class with synchronous learning/online learning from 8:45 a.m – 12:30 p.m.

Parents with children in special education programs are concerned. The TDSB’s letter states, “please note that as part of the government efforts to protect the most vulnerable, school boards will where possible, provide in-person support for students with special education needs who cannot be accommodated through remote learning based on student needs.” The letter indicates that if educators are “unable to provide quality education remotely, boards are required to provide alternate arrangements such as access to schools or school boards offices.”