Elementary school classes set to be reorganized in Mississauga

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Published September 18, 2020 at 5:14 pm

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This school year hasn’t been like any other before it and almost three weeks into September, changes are still being made at elementary schools in Mississauga.

The Peel District School Board (PDSB), which oversees schools in Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon, recently announced that elementary schools will be reorganizing classes in response to an increase in requests for online learning. 

“We know the decision to enrol your child in online or in-person learning was not an easy one, and involved many factors. To help you make an informed decision, we provided as much time as possible to switch learning models up until Sept. 10,” Colleen Russell-Rawlins, Interim Director of Education, wrote in a letter to parents and families. 

“In the days leading up to this deadline, we saw considerable changes to enrolment. To meet the demand for online learning, our elementary schools will be undergoing a reorganization this week.”

The PDSB said that typically, each school begins with a certain number of classes and teachers based on decisions made the previous school year. After the first week of school, the board checks to see whether class enrolment matches what was predicted in the spring and makes any necessary adjustments. 

The board said that estimates made this past spring could not have predicted the impact that COVID-19 would have on the 2020-21 school year. 

“Given the recent significant shift to online learning, we have determined that another reorganization will be required to meet mandatory Ministry of Education class size regulations and to ensure we have enough teachers for each class,” the letter reads. 

“Our priority in this process is to keep in-person classes below Ministry targets to help with physical distancing measures at school.”

The board said schools will inform families directly on how this reorganization will impact their child(ren)’s classes and that changes will be in effect as of Monday, Sept. 21. 

The board says some classes may undergo changes to class sizes to align with Ministry requirements, and/or will be reassigned a different teacher. 

“To ease the transition during this reorganization process, school staff will work to minimize the impact that any class changes have on students, always with their health, safety and well-being as the primary focus,” Russell-Rawlins said.

“We’ve worked within our schools to minimize changes to cohorts/classes as much as possible, and have consulted with Peel Public Health on our plan.” 

To learn more about how the board is handling COVID-19, click here

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