Students still need help after COVID-19, Hamilton trustees say in call to renew provincial learning fund

With $7.1 million in provincial funding, Hamilton's public schools were able to hire extra staff to help kids catch up after more than two years of pandemic learning disruptions, according to school board trustees.

But that one-time COVID-19 Learning Recovery Fund for 2022 to 2023 is about to end, despite many students having not fully recovered academically, socially or emotionally, said board chair Dawn Danko.

That's why she, on behalf of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) trustees, sent a letter to Minister of Education Stephen Lecce this week, urging him to extend the program. 

"We are hearing loud and clear the impacts of the pandemic are not resolved," Danko told CBC Hamilton. "It took us three years to get here. It's going to take more than one year to fully recover." 

Reading and math skills top priority, province says

The minister's office said in a statement that the government continues to fund education "at the highest levels in our province's history" and has committed to hiring 7,000 additional student support workers. 

"We look forward to increased investments where students need it the most, focused on reading and math skills," said spokesperson Harrison Fleming.

Danko said she's heard from principals, teachers and parents that some students are still struggling with their academics, mental health, social skills and conflict management skills. 

Minor conflicts between students in classrooms, hallways and school yards escalate quickly to major conflicts, Danko said. And students are still struggling with group work, which wasn't allowed during the pandemic. 

The exact breakdown of how the learning recovery money was spent has not been publicly released because trustees are currently in discussions about the 2023-2024 budget, said HWDSB spokesperson Shawn McKillop. 

The board has said, broadly, it funded extra teachers, early childhood educators and educational assistants.

Daryl Jerome, Hamilton district president for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said his members are reporting some students continue to have trouble regulating their emotions and lash out violently against them and other students.

The additional recovery funding meant there were additional support staff to "reengage" these students most impacted by the pandemic, Jerome said. When it ends, he expects there will be a negative impact.

Too soon to pull funding, parent says

Alicia Cox Thomson is the school council chair at Adelaide Hoodless Elementary School where her two kids are in Grades 1 and 4. She said while they haven't had a lot of catching up to do, she's heard from other parents that their kids are still needing support.

"It's too soon to pull the learning recovery fund because some of the kids who didn't get the foundation they need in Grades 1 to 3 due to remote learning are struggling now in Grades 4 to 6," Thomson said. "Remote learning stalled growth for students at all levels and we are still seeing the effects."

Ontario students experienced more than 20 weeks of school closures — longer than any other province or territory, said a 2021 report by the Ontario Science Table. Research has shown that even with online options, school closures lead to learning losses and disproportionately impacted racialized students or those with lower socioeconomic backgrounds or disabilities.

The science table said the impacts of the learning disruptions will be an "ongoing challenge" and the social and economic costs "potentially devastating and can far outlive the immediate period of the COVID-19 pandemic."