'High priority' schools in low-income neighbourhoods get extra help during COVID-19

Hamilton's local school boards will be providing 31 "high priority" schools in the city with extra support as they reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sharon Stephanian, superintendent of equity and well-being at Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, said during a Tuesday meeting with trustees, that the 23 public health nurses helping Hamilton schools (15 of which will be dedicated to HWDSB) will work in teams of two and three to help a specific group or "family" of schools.

"Public health has looked at our structure within each of the families. They've looked at the high priority schools we have identified and where resources are targeted and focused in our regular public health deployment ... as well as data they have available around previous trends of COVID-19 in the city," she explained.

Shawn McKillop, HWDSB spokesperson, said "high priority" schools are in neighbourhoods with high rates of poverty as identified by census or community demographic data.

"Most, if not all, HPS have neighbourhood populations also have a high proportion of minorities. These schools generally receive supplementary financial and social resources by school boards and governments," he said.

While the board formally recognizes elementary schools as "high priority," HWDSB director Manny Figueiredo said the high schools they feed into would also be included (like Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School or Bernie Custis Secondary School).

Marnie Jadon, a spokesperson for the Catholic board, said they call those schools "equal opportunity" schools, but they serve the same purpose.

Sara Mayo, social planner of geographic information services with Hamilton's Social Planning and Research Council, told CBC equity is key.

"We have to make sure resources are distributed according to need," she said, "not just randomly distributing public health resources, but targeting them to areas we know may have higher rates of COVID-19 already and (where people) have more difficulty taking time off work, may have overcrowded housing and other factors like that which exacerbate infection rates."

Mayo led research that shows rates of COVID-19 are higher in Hamilton neighbourhoods with more low-income residents and people of colour.

The same research reveals pandemic-era job losses in Hamilton affected women, youth and part-time workers the most.

"COVID clearly has a social gradient, in that risk is not even across the city or demographic and income groups, so we have to — as a city, as a health unit, as a school board — work together to reduce those disparities and do everything in their power to allocate resources with that goal," she said.

The equitable approach from local school boards also comes as schools have bolstered inclusion and anti-racism training this year after students complained about racism and bullying in Hamilton schools.

More support for students of colour

The Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI) also launched a program to support Black students returning to school. It is offering peer tutoring, mental health support, food supports and school supplies.

"Over the last few weeks we've received a few hundred requests for peer tutoring and back to school supplies for Black youth," read a tweet from HCCI's Twitter account.

Kojo Damptey, HCCI interim executive director, said it is currently looking for laptops, iPads and computer donations, citing an "increased need."

"We've been able to support more than 200 youth across Hamilton, so there's a need to support families, especially during this pandemic," he said.

Hamilton public school board's Black graduation coaches have also continued to stay in touch with students during the pandemic.

They hosted a virtual summer camp for their students in August and kept in touch up with them through phone calls.

"Sometimes we are successful with connecting with students that week. Sometimes it's a real challenge, but most importantly we don't give up," coaches Chad McPherson and Michael Abraham said. 

They have also both been part of an HWDSB group helping identify inequities and planning, from an equity lens, to respond to community needs.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

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