THUNDER BAY - Students across the city will most likely be returning to the classroom in September, but normal routines are not expected right away.
“It’s obviously going to be different,” said Ian MacRae, director of education with the Lakehead Public School Board. “It is going to take a lot of flexibility on the part of both students and staff.”
Last week, the provincial government announced guidelines for local school boards to use in developing a model for reopening schools in September.
School boards will have three models to choose from, which include in-class learning, at home learning, or an adaptive/blended model of the two.
According to school board officials with the Lakehead Board and the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, local schools will be developing an adaptive model, meaning in-class learning with possible alternating days or weeks, complimented by online learning.
“We are working toward a blended model, whether it be alternate days or alternate weeks, moving toward a full return we would hope in October,” MacRae said. “I think the advantage we have here is the few cases we have had relative to the rest of the province. That should allow us to be a little bit ahead of the rest of the province in terms of moving toward a full return.”
Pino Tassone, director of education with the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, said they will also be using an adaptive model with hopes of moving to more conventional learning as soon as possible.
“That’s being wishful, obviously,” he said. “We hope that we are there because of where we live. But we understand we may not be there so we are developing all three models.”
The provincial government is also requiring school boards to limit class sizes to fewer than 15 students and keeping students with the same classmates and teachers throughout the day as much as possible.
Tassone said this won’t be a problem for elementary grades, but it does pose some challenges at the high school level and may require a four-period day being broken up over two days.
The other concern is what the workload might mean for teachers, especially if some parents choose to keep their children home. The provincial government said it is at the parent’s discretion whether or not to send their children back to school and at-home learning will still be available.
“The challenge is what our teachers are going to be able to do,” Tassone said. “We worry about the union implications because there will be a lot of work if the teachers have to do both, face-to-face with one group, and remote learning with another group. There is a considerable amount of prep and planning in that case.”
Both school boards said it will require a lot of communication with parents so they are aware of what to expect in September.
“Parents want to know if we are going to start with this adapted model, what is it going to look like exactly, what can my child expect with respect to transportation, class sizes, and the like,” MacRae said. “So it’s going to be a communicating situation we are going to get into to explain explicitly to parents what they can expect before they commit whether or not their child is coming back.”
Plans will also need to be in place in the event of a second wave of COVID-19 cases and MacRae said based on the guidelines set out by the province, school boards will have the flexibility to adjust to the ever-evolving situation.
“I think the expectation of the ministry is we will be able to move between the three models with significant fluidity,” he said. “If for example there is a second wave or students or staff test positive, we will have a plan in place to be able to manage that. Moving back to more online delivery. We will have scenarios in place for all eventualities.”
In terms of extra-curricular activities, no definitive plans are set just yet with respect to what that might look like. MacRae said there is the possibility of having individual sports available in the fall, with other team sports starting up again in the spring.
But just getting back into the classroom will be a good start. MacRae said he agrees with the Minister of Education Stephen Lecce, who said in-class learning is just as important to a student’s mental and emotional health as the education they receive.
“They have been out of school for a long time away from their peers, instructors, and I think they will be anxious to get back into that routine, whatever it might look like,” MacRae said. “It won’t be the same as when they left, but certainly I think it will be an improvement in terms what we are doing now of meeting those needs of students.”
The Lakehead Board and the Catholic Board will be working on their reopening models over the next two months. School boards are to submit models for September to the Ministry of Education for approval in early August.
