Hundreds of kids in northeastern Ontario are skipping online school, but fewer than expected

It's been two months since Ontario's education system moved online.

Hundreds of kids in northeastern Ontario have not been going to those virtual classes, but school officials thought attendance would be even lower.

Between 10 and 40 per cent of the English public students in the Sudbury area are skipping online school.

"I'm quite humbled by that for one and also pleasantly surprised," says Rainbow District School Board director of education Norm Blaseg.

"I mean there's just so many hurdles and so many barriers."

The District School Board Ontario North East — which runs English public schools in Timmins, Kapukasing, Kirkland Lake and elsewhere — figures that about 15 per cent of elementary students, around 600 children, haven't been taking the online classes.

"I think there are so many other needs that they're confronting, that they just haven't been able to focus on the learning at this time," says director of education Lesleigh Dye.

"We're working very hard with that 15 per cent that haven't participated to find out why."

The numbers for secondary students haven't been crunched yet, but Dye knows that many of the Grade 11 and 12 students have put their learning on hold during the pandemic.

"Many of our Grade 11 and 12 students are also essential service workers in our communities, and so are really working hard in that area and have less time to focus on their studies," she says.

That's partly because the grades as of March 13 will stand for the semester, although students working online do have a chance to improve their marks.

Blaseg wonders how wise it is for teenagers to be used as "replacement workers" during a health crisis.

"There is a side of me that says these kids should be at home engaged in their schooling and also for their own protection," he says.

"There's an ethical question and dilemma attached to that as well."

One of the big questions when schools moved online was how many in northern Ontario wouldn't have strong enough internet connections to continue their education.

For the Rainbow board, that number was initially 300, but Blaseg says with some devices loaned out and arrangements with web providers to improve service, there are now about 100 students still receiving paper assignments.

Dye says for Timmins and area, they had only 42 families without internet. Wireless hubs were purchased for 31 of them and the remaining 11 can claim mileage for driving to the school or other wireless hot spot to download school work.

The Huron-Superior District Catholic School Board has distributed about 1,300 devices to students and a few dozen are still receiving paper assignments.

Director of education Rose Burton Spohn says about 85 per cent of their students are "actively engaged" in distance learning.

"Attendance doesn't look the same obviously in an online environment," she says.

Burton Spohn says there were big questions about how support staff would do their work remotely, but she says that's gone very well, with educational assistants and others sometimes reaching out to students individually for video chats.

One of the questions now is what graduation season will look like in June, since the province is urging school boards not to totally cancel convocation ceremonies.

Burton Spohn says that will be a challenge with gatherings of more than five people currently against the law and some graduations drawing over 1,000. She says St. Mary's College usually holds its ceremony in the Sault's Memorial Gardens arena.

"Student safety, of course, is paramount. Staff safety, parent safety. So safety trumps everything in our world," she says.

Some schools are looking at honouring grads online, some are looking at delaying until the fall and some are considering creative solutions such as a "drive-in" convocation or the "graduation parade" being planned in the small town of Englehart. 

The biggest question for Ontario schools is when they'll re-open.

Blaseg says he's sure the province is keeping a close eye on the "experiment" in Quebec, where kids returned to class this week.

He says he worries about the kind of learning environment students are walking into and says not a lot is yet known of how children transmit COVID-19, and how many could be carrying the virus but show no symptoms.

"I'm not saying it can't work, but I'm not comfortable with it," Blaseg says.

He adds Ontario won't "want to back step" and open schools this spring, only to close them again if coronavirus cases climb again.

While the province hasn't officially made its decision, Blaseg notes that schools are being told to hold off on graduation ceremonies and some school workers are being redeployed to help in long-term care homes. 

"Maybe those are hints of what may be coming to the education sector," he says.

"I can't say with 100 per cent certainty, but I think that the ministry is kind of showing its cards a little bit."