Attention parents

We urgently need to educate our @ocdsb trustees about how "virtual learning" works (or not) for our kids & how we think about balancing risks & benefits of different school schedules for the fall.

Here's what I learned in a convo w/a trustee this AM:

At least one trustee does not support re-opening schools (or society) until there is zero community transmission in Canada, and/or until the Canadian government quarantines all incoming travelers in hotels.

Trustees are reading alarmist news stories from elsewhere & using that info to set policy for Ottawa. The logic is that b/c 300+ kids in Texas daycares have gotten COVID, Ottawa should not risk re-opening schools. (Note: Texas had 10,000 new cases yesterday. Ottawa had zero.)

Trustees plan to assess outcomes from virtual learning with a parent survey on happiness and other feelings, to be deployed in about a year.

At least one trustee claims to have no concrete knowledge of what "virtual learning" actually involves. What instruction did kids get in the spring? Who knows. Apparently the board just sets policy, and it's open to teachers to implement those policies however they want.

Trustees are not actively considering any evidence or research about how well virtual learning works for educating students of different ages, or about the consequences of prolonged interruptions to in-person schooling.

The trustee I spoke with believes that if schools re-opened fully, a few schools would have to close each week due to COVID cases. For ex, 5 of approx. 150 facilities might be closed at any time. This churn would be a problem, so it's better to pre-emptively close all schools.

Trustees have a sense that the province is not providing them with enough $$ (GOOD! that's right!!!), but they don't have any real estimates of how much they need for health & safety measures.

One bit of good news--apparently the province has mandated districts to provide some in-person education. Despite trustees' preferences, 100% online school is no longer an option. And we agreed that part-time school increases contacts for kids (b/c of daycare on off days).

I also think that at least some trustees are willing to publicly push @fordnation & @sflecce to properly fund a #SafeSeptember. They have not yet started doing this, and they have no concrete plan for action. But the willingness is there.

So, parents & anyone who cares abt education. Here are our tasks:

1. Contact your trustee. IMMEDIATELY. People are leaving thousands of comments on the district's survey, yet somehow the msg is not getting through. EMAILS & CALLS ARE NEEDED. Info here: https://ocdsb.ca/board/meet_your_trustees

2. Email a written comment to [email protected] . Even though we are not allowed to speak as "delegations" at the @OCDSB meeting Thurs. night, our written comments can still be distributed and shared.

3. Keep the pressure on @fordnation & @Sflecce. The real problem is that the provincial gov has given boards almost no additional $$ to operate during #COVID19. This is unacceptable. Our kids deserve better.

#GetInvolved #onted