Communication problems muddle start of OCDSB virtual school

Parents with kids starting virtual school with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) Friday are frustrated with what they say is a lack of communication.

The OCDSB now has 17,000 students learning virtually, 13,000 of them in elementary grades.

Some parents with a spot in the virtual schools said Thursday, however, that they don't feel ready. 

"I don't know what her programming would look like. I have no information about a teacher. So we have no idea how to access a class that should be happening tomorrow," said Amanda Young, speaking about her daughter in Grade 2.

She said it's a similar story for her son's Grade 8 class. 

Young said she has received generic emails from the board with login information and hasn't been able to contact the virtual school either, making both her and her kids anxious. 

"Their questions are more centred around, 'What am I going to be doing tomorrow? Because I don't know.' And I don't have any answers to give them."

Another parent, Jacob Hanna, acknowledged his family was late with its request to have their children learn virtually, missing the Aug. 26 deadline by about a week, but he said it was not an easy decision. 

"We felt as parents of four children adapting to an ever-moving story that we could not make that decision [by then]. We couldn't feel safe about it," he said.

Hanna said he was told by his daughter's vice-principal she would have a spot.

But on Thursday, he received an email from the principal explaining that the virtual school was full. His daughter would be placed on a waiting list, he said, and she would have to attend class in person. 

"We never got any formal course selections from our initial virtual school correspondence. Like, she literally slipped through the cracks," he said. 

"In the virtual world, where's the capacity issue? How do you run out of space in a Zoom call? There should be a little room for a margin of error there."

Requests being worked on

The OCDSB said Thursday that over the past few weeks staff have been working to set up these new virtual classes and finalize teaching assignments and schedules.

Twenty-five of its 700 virtual school jobs at the elementary level are unfilled, meaning classes without a full-time teacher will have an occasional teacher to begin. Staffing is expected to be finalized with a week.

Until that work is completed, requests for changes will not be processed, the board said. When they are, they will be based on space and availability. 

Those on a wait list will be considered after home and virtual schools finish restaffing and creating timetables, the board said. 

The OCDSB said parents who've registered should have received an email from their child's teacher, if one's been assigned, or the principal if the class isn't staffed yet.

If parents haven't had any communication, they should contact the school, the board said.