Districts to allow complex-needs students back to school for few hours a week

New Brunswick school districts are allowing complex-needs students back into school for a few hours up to three times a week next month.

Earlier, the province gave some school staff the green light to return to schools starting June 1 to finish up work and plan for the fall semester, but not students.

Now, bringing students with complex needs back into the classroom is a priority because of the "the number of weeks the students have been at home," Anglophone South School District superintendent Zoe Watson said in a letter to staff.

She said the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development prioritized this provincewide initiative.

School officials "have been participating in provincial meetings about how this could happen safely."

The province announced the closure of schools March 13 to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In her letter, Watson said each school will choose the students. They will be invited to the school for one hour to 2½ hours weekly up to three times a week between June 1 and June 19.

She said each student will be matched with two educational assistants.

"Support plans developed by school-based teams will focus primarily on play-based and social activities, practising skills that were introduced before schools closed mid-March," she said in the letter.

"Students will be identified and families contacted by the school-based team."

Rick Cuming, president of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, said the June program is asking the schools to provide "respite care" to families, something that's usually provided by members of the community.

He said he's been involved with safety aspects, but the final plan has not been provided to teachers yet.

"The teachers are looking to us sometimes for answers and we're working with government to try and get those answers and get the specifics of finalized plans," he said.

He said from the initial information they've gotten, the plan is going to be for a limited number of students, but it's up to the schools to decide how many.

"We understand that students are going to be limited to specific areas of the building and that they will be assigned to educational assistants," he said.

He said teachers understand the strain that has been placed on families during the provincial shutdown.

"This initiative is an opportunity to provide these families some respite," he said. 

He said much like other professionals teachers have been through many changes to their workflow and these could sometimes cause frustration.

"Our administrative teams are scrambling doing graduation plans," he said. "They're trying to do a safe return to school [plan] for their teachers and now they're trying to also make sure that respite care is being provided. They're working very hard to make this happen.

'Extensive guidelines'

In response to a request for an interview, education spokesperson Danielle Elliott said every home environment is different, and since schools were closed, students with complex needs were unable to access "the additional supports they require. That's why the province has decided to begin this program.

"Teams will be responsible for planning the student's transition back to the school setting, including establishing clear guidelines to ensure the health and safety of both the staff and learner," she said.

Watson said the district has an "extensive guidelines document" to maintain health and safety.

"We will be starting slowly next week and you will hear more from your principal on this initiative," she wrote. "We know this will be important to our families and I want to thank you for your participation."

In an email from spokesperson Judy Cole, Anglophone West superintendent David McTimoney said the school district is participating in the same program. McTimoney declined to comment further.