LaSalle high school student wants a more 'normal' school system in Windsor-Essex

LaSalle high school student Sean O'Neil wants "quadmesters" to be a thing of the past in Windsor-Essex.

So he's started a petition for a new adapted model of learning that suits the region's low COVID-19 case count and hopes to get the attention of the Ministry of Education.

"I think that the COVID-19 crisis in Windsor-Essex has gotten better. I definitely don't think it's gone or anything, but I think that we need to start moving closer to normal, especially with our schools. You know, the future of all these kids in high school are at stake right now," he said.

O'Neil, a grade 12 student at Sandwich Secondary School, said he surveyed several students who also want to get back to a "normal" school system. He now has more than 100 supporters for his campaign.

Since the pandemic began, high schools have adopted a quadmester system — the school year is divided into four semesters of 44 or 45 days each and secondary students take two, four hour classes per quadmester, in cohorts of about 15.

But due to a currently low COVID-19 case count in Windsor-Essex, O'Neil thinks this style of learning is no longer necessary for the region.

Instead, he said he wants there to be two classes a day that run about 150 minutes, a lunch break that allows for some social interaction and extracurricular activities.

"There are some students that are not necessarily going toward an academic field in their future, and they might want to go into music or sports and those people need to have some sort of option at school to work towards their future," he said.

He said one of the biggest issues he has with the current curriculum is the lack of social interaction between students.

"I understand that school is ... about education, but it also should be about, you know, seeing friends, talking to people, because that's really what makes high school a lot better," he said.

"Right now, you go to school, you immediately ... sit in your classroom and there's not even any conversation between people. Everyone sits in silence," O'Neil said. "Online classes are the exact same, except you're sitting in your house. You don't even get to see anyone."

Quadmesters a "pilot project"

His concerns are valid, according to Monika Ferenczy, an educational consultant with Horizon Educational Consulting.

"The quadmester is a pilot project," she said, adding that it has "absolutely no pedagogical value to it. It was created simply because of a health concern and finding a way for students to be less in numbers inside a physical school building. So it has absolutely nothing to do with learning and learning did not drive that decision."

She said there should be flexibility to switch learning structures for students that better meets their needs.

"If you can't get out of an option that is just not working for you, you're going to get disengagement and you're going to get failing course rates and marks that are not reflective of true learning," Ferenczy said, adding that social interaction is important as well.

"There's a lot of body language that is part of that social communication that adolescents and teens really gravitate toward that help them learn," she said.

She says the quadmester system doesn't prepare students and it's doing them a disservice and shouldn't be used in areas where there aren't rising COVID-19 cases.

"I think it needs to be abandoned as soon as possible," she said.

In an emailed statement to CBC News Thursday, public relations officer for the Greater Essex County District School Board Scott Scantlebury said, "We have had a number of discussions with this young man and his father. Ultimately as a board that has been designated by the Ministry of Education we must operate an adapted model of learning in secondary schools in order to limit contacts to approximately 100 people." 

Scantlebury would not provide further comment. 

Hopeful for change

"It is up to school boards to determine the best timetabling method and course delivery, based on local resources, public health advice, and in accordance with Ministry guidance and requirements," said Ministry of Education spokesperson Ingrid Anderson in an email to CBC News, which includes limiting "indirect and direct student contacts to approximately 100 students in the school."

O'Neil said he's hopeful the school year will change in the near future.

"Students voices need to be heard," he said." And I think that with enough support, we'll get what we want and we'll be able to achieve this and move to a better school schedule."