The Durham District School Board (DDSB) yesterday said it was “particularly concerned about the sustained maintenance of virtual classrooms over an extended duration”, if a CUPE education workers strike goes ahead from Monday.
Should a tentative settlement not be reached over the weekend, DDSB said the province has directed school boards to offer live virtual learning for students.
“Employees represented by CUPE performed critical tasks during past transitions to virtual learning. As a result, while educators will do their best when providing virtual learning opportunities, without IT support, clerical assistance, and Educational Assistant (EA) support in virtual classrooms, the experience will not be the same,” DDSB said in a notice to parents and guardians.
“We are particularly concerned about the sustained maintenance of virtual classrooms over an extended duration without the assistance of IT support, as learning platforms require maintenance and attention,” it added.
DDSB outlined its plan (below) for virtual learning should the strike go ahead as planned on Monday.
Elementary Students (Excluding DDSB@Home)
Elementary schools (excluding DDSB@Home) will provide live virtual learning starting on the afternoon of Monday, November 21, 2022 which will then transition into a full-day schedule on Tuesday, November 22, 2022. Students will also receive asynchronous learning through their digital classroom platform for the first morning. As of Tuesday, all kindergarten students should receive 180 minutes of live instruction per day.
Students in Grades 1-8 receive 225 minutes of live instruction per day. Your child’s teacher will share a schedule for learning throughout the week. We do recognize that the number of live instructional minutes required for students in Grades K-3 may be too lengthy for the age group and educators will work with families to reduce screen time. Educational Assistant support will be unavailable.
Secondary Students (Excluding DDSB@Home)
Live virtual learning for secondary students (excluding DDSB@Home) will start on Monday, November 21 with the first 30 minutes of each scheduled class taking place virtually. Full day (60 minutes per class) live virtual learning will begin on Tuesday, November 22 for all secondary students.
Students Enrolled in DDSB@Home
All elementary and secondary students currently learning through DDSB@Home will continue with their current schedule with some modifications. However, it is important to note that CUPE staff play an important role in maintaining IT systems, providing Educational Assistant support and clerical support and that services will not be the same without CUPE staff at work.
Special Education Classes
Without Educational Assistant support, live virtual learning will not look the same as it did in the past periods of remote learning. However, educators will be communicating directly with families to provide more information on the support and learning that can be provided. ASL Interpreters, Intervenors, Developmental Service Workers and the DDSB Language Acquisition Worker remain in active service to students.
Child Care
All 39 Full-Service Child Care Centres will remain open. However, all licensed Kindergarten and School Age Before and After School programs, After School Recreation programs, and school Community HUB programs (i.e., EarlyON) will be closed for the duration of the strike, with limited exceptions. Families and children who receive care in these programs will be contacted directly by their child care provider.
Student Technology
Students in Grades 7-12 should bring home their Chromebook today.
Elementary schools may be deploying devices for students in Grades K-6 based upon student needs and the availability of Chromebooks. We do not have surplus equipment to distribute, nor the staff to do it, as we did during the pandemic.
We have directed staff to be flexible in terms of their expectations for students. We recognize that not all families will have the same access to the internet or individual computers for children, and that in some families, older siblings may be assisting with childcare during this period.
Communicating with DDSB@Home and all Schools
Please note that CUPE staff play an important role answering phones, responding to families via e-mail and providing support at your child’s school. If the labour disruption goes ahead, no one will be answering the phone at the Education Centre, in-person schools, or at DDSB@Home. Your child’s educator will still be available to respond to questions from students/parents/guardians about classroom learning via email. Attendance will not be completed for in-person or DDSB@Home schools.
Cooperative Education
If students are participating in a cooperative education program that is not located at a DDSB building, they should continue to attend their placement. Any in-class components will be provided through live virtual learning.
Community Use of School Permits
All community use of school permits will be cancelled for the duration of the strike.
Durham Continuing Education and Alternative Programs
Some Durham Continuing Education classes will continue to take place virtually and students will be notified directly of any changes. The Academy for Student Athlete Development (ASAD), Centres for Success (Durham College), and community-based programs will be running as usual as they are not located in DDSB buildings.
We will share further information with you as it becomes available, but parents/guardians/students should make plans anticipating that school buildings will be closed on Monday. We encourage you to follow @DDSBSchools on Twitter and check our website for updates.