Hamilton public school board pushes back start of classes
Bobby Hristova | CBC News | Posted: August 29, 2020 12:53 AM | Last Updated: August 29, 2020
Students will have fewer days to get familiar with schools
Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has changed its school reopening schedule and has pushed back the start date of classes.
HWDSB sent out the new plan, which includes fewer days for students to get familiar with schools, on Friday evening.
Instead of students starting classes on Tuesday, Sept. 8, the first set of students will now begin on Thursday, Sept. 10.
"Our priority is the health and safety of students and staff in the reopening process," notes the release.
Elementary schools
In elementary schools, staff will spend Sept. 8 and Sept. 9 adjusting to their new timetables.
On Thursday, Sept. 10 and Friday, Sept. 11 elementary schools will have students with special needs drop in and will also begin orientation for junior kindergarten.
The schedule then divides the student body into either Group A or Group B with the goal of having only half of all classes attend. The groups are divided by last name.
Group A is for last names that start with the letters between A an K. Group B is for for last names that start with the letters between L and Z.
In elementary schools, Group A will attend school on Monday, Sept. 14 while Group B will attend on Tuesday, Sept. 15. On Wednesday, all students return to school (which is unchanged from the last schedule).
HWDSB told CBC roughly 20 per cent of students in elementary schools will learn via a virtual school.
For families concerned about if their child is properly registered into the system, the board said those who use the Parent Portal can review their choice online, while those who completed the alternate form should have received a confirmation.
HWDSB also notes school will reach out to families before classes start.
High schools
In high schools, administrators will use Sept. 8 and Sept. 9 to tweak timetables and ready their study hall spaces.
They will welcome students with special needs on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11 and will also begin orientation for all students in remote learning on those days.
Grade 9 and 10 students in Group A, for both in-person and remote learning, will start class on Monday, Sept. 14.
Grade 11 and 12 students in remote classes will also start.
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, Grade 9 and 10 students in Group B start class for both in-person and remote learning, while Grade 11 and 12 students from the remote classes continue learning.
On that Wednesday, all students in Group A return to school, before Group B gets the school on Thursday.
High school runs on an adaptive model, so this rotating between groups will continue for the rest of the semester.
Here's more back-to-school coverage:
- Help CBC Hamilton's back-to-school coverage
- Catholic board plans to cut class sizes, hire teachers to help students keep distance
- Ontario reveals COVID-19 school outbreak plan, including rules for student dismissals and closures
- HWDSB extends registration deadline to Thursday due to problem-plagued Parent Portal
- Six Nations elementary schools to do remote and virtual learning for September and October
HWDSB explains that students attending in-person classes will receive roughly 150 minutes of learning a day.
Cohorts on their off day from school will use these 150 minutes to complete assigned work they learned the day before, when they were in school using remote learning tools.
All students from both cohorts will participate in 150 minutes of remote learning each day.
The release says they will receive 40 minutes of direct instruction for each of their three courses each day with their entire class.
Students will also be expected to engage in 10 minutes of independent study per course on each day.
COVID-19 outbreak plan in review
HWDSB and Hamliton Public Health are still reviewing the provincially mandated COVID-19 outbreak plan released earlier this week.
The board also noted PPE is being delivered to schools, which will also undergo inspection before kids start class.
Human Resources are also confirming new teacher assignments, the new virtual school and adding additional staff using $9 million from the board's reserve funds.
HWDSB will hold a special board meeting on Monday with more details about reopening schools.
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