Public schools from Pickering to Oshawa will switch to virtual learning if CUPE strike extended
Published November 4, 2022 at 2:37 pm
Public schools in Durham will remain closed to in-person learning next week should the CUPE “labour disruption” continue, the Durham District School Board has announced.
The Durham District Catholic School Board, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (Clarington Public) and the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington School Board (Clarington Catholic) have only said they will “continue to monitor the situation” and provide updates to families as information becomes available.
The Durham public board, however, has a plan and shared it with parents and students Friday.
If the strike is extended elementary school educators will be connecting with their classrooms virtually to begin live virtual learning Monday afternoon, as the morning will be taken up with to staff meetings and timetable organization, the board declared.
Beginning on Tuesday and in accordance with provincial direction, all kindergarten students should receive 180 minutes of live instruction per day and students in Grades 1-8 should receive 225 minutes of live instruction per day.
“We do recognize that the number of live instructional minutes required for students in Grades K-3 may be too lengthy for the age group and educators will work with families to reduce screen time.”
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Staff has also been directed to be “flexible” in its expectations as not all families will have the same access to technology and that in some families, older siblings may be assisting with childcare during this period.
High school students are expected to sign into their Google Classroom at the start of their school day. Secondary educators will be holding live learning for the first 30 minutes of each period on Monday. Beginning on Tuesday, secondary students will receive 60 minutes of live virtual instruction for each class.
There will be some issues, the board acknowledged. There isn’t the staff or the surplus equipment to effectively distribute technology to all students in Grades K-6 who may require it. “We know that this may be a challenge for some families and your child’s educator will do their best to support your child.”
As well, live virtual learning won’t look the same without Educational Assistant support.
“At this stage the DDSB does not know how long this labour disruption will last. We are working to ensure that students are supported as much as possible during this time. We will continue to update families on our plans to support student learning if the labour disruption continues and schools remain closed to in-person learning as a result.”
For the latest information and updates, please continue to visit www.ddsb.ca and follow @DDSBSchools on Twitter.
