GUELPH – Parents with students in the Upper Grand District School Board have overwhelmingly decided to return their children to face-to-face learning in September.
Heather Loney, spokesperson for the board, said in an email that of the approximately 35,000 students in the board, 2,700 elementary and 1,000 secondary students have opted for online learning. The rest – almost 90 per cent – intend to attend brick and mortar schools next month.
Trustees also decided, at a special board meeting on Aug. 18, to make masks mandatory for all its students, staff and visitors indoors and on buses. The Ministry of Education had previously made masks mandatory for Grades 4 and up while encouraging masks for younger students.
The motions that were passed:
- that the UGDSB require masks to be worn indoors and on school buses for all students, staff, and visitors, allowing for appropriate medical exemptions;
- that school staff explore alternatives such as face shields for students unable to wear masks;
- that staff approach compliance with parents and younger students in JK-3 with a focus on education; and
- that there would be progressive disciplinary action for students not complying.
“Progressive Discipline is a whole school approach that makes use of a continuum of proactive measures, interventions, supports and consequences to promote positive behaviours. In developing a Progressive Discipline approach, preventative practices, corrective and supportive strategies are used to reinforce positive behaviours,” Loney said.
The board has also outlined on its website that there will be a staggered start to school this year for both elementary and secondary students.
- New JK students will attend for a full day on either Tues/Thurs or Wed/Fri of the first week and attend full time beginning Monday, September 14th.
- SK to Grade 8 classes will be divided into two different groups (Cohort A & B) with a shorter gradual entry taking place in the first two days of school. Cohort A (half class) will attend on September 8th and Cohort B (other half of class) on September 9th. All students will attend full time beginning Thursday, September 10th. Families will be contacted about which days their child is to attend and which cohort they have been placed in.
Similarly, only Grade 9 students will attend the first day of school, Tues., Sept. 8. The following day will include both Grade 9 and Grade 10 students. All students will attend classes on Thurs., Sept. 10.
“This staggered entry will allow our incoming Grade 9 students to transition into the building first, and it allows schools to review safety protocols with fewer students in the building,” the website reads.
Secondary students enrolled in the remote learning program will begin the quadmester on Friday, September 11. Staff will use the first few days of the school year to ensure that students are properly registered and provide support to individual students. Students in self contained programs will attend full time beginning on September 8.
More teachers
The board is also hiring more teachers to keep class sizes small to allow for greater physical distancing. While elementary classes are capped at 20 to 23 students, kindergarten, junior and intermediate classes tend to be larger, sometimes with 29 or 30 students.
“For this reason, we are developing plans that would divide many of our larger Kindergarten classes into two groups for most of the school day, to provide physical distancing for our youngest students who will not likely be wearing masks. We are also reducing the number of students in junior and intermediate classes by hiring additional teachers,” the website statement reads.
In addition to its existing staffing complement, the board will hire 18.9 FTE elementary teachers, 14.5 FTE Special Education Assistants, 2.3 speech and language workers, 3.4 FTE child and youth counsellors, 1.5 FTE social workers, and six FTE custodians. There will be a decrease of 3.16 FTE secondary teachers due to new class size directives from the ministry of education.
With these changes, the board passed the 2020-2021 school year budget on Aug. 18, including an operating budget of $416,337,588 and a capital budget of $49,126,629. The Board also approved the use of $2,014,455 from accumulated surplus to balance the operating budget, a move recently allowed by the ministry in recognition of the challenges boards will face this year.
