Ontario Families for Public Education and the Ontario Parent Action Network have announced they will be launching a public consultation process regarding the province’s pandemic education plan.
In a virtual meeting on Oct. 29, members of the action groups from across the province outlined their continued concerns with the public school year so far – namely, that families were not consulted from the beginning and that the plan continues to negatively impact the safety and mental health of educators, students and families, specifically racialized families and those in low-income neighbourhoods.
“Let me be clear: the Ford government never consulted families on the school reopening plan,” said Fernanda Yanchapaxi, a Toronto District School Board parent and member of the Ontario Parent Action Network. She added that she was surprised from the beginning of the school year to learn that the government would not be following the Sick Kids report recommendation of having smaller elementary class sizes where possible.
“As a racialized parent, I know this: low-income communities and racialized families have not only been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, but our kids have been mostly affected by the lack of support, resources and a plan that provides quality education for our children,” she said.
She added that in her Toronto community, children are having to complete and submit homework on their parents’ cellphones, and that many families chose not to send their children to school at all.
“I continue to feel stressed (and) frustrated while worrying about not doing right by my children or by other family members,” said Peel District School Board parent Romana Siddiqui, a member of Peel Families for Public Education, adding that the reorganizing, collapsing and combining of classrooms has created added stress for students and teachers, negatively impacting mental health and causing burnout.
Siddiqui stated that in the Peel school board, approximately half of the student population opted for online learning, which she said demonstrates families’ lack of confidence in the safety of the provincial plans.
She added that the , first adopted by the Upper Canada District School Board and then by the York Catholic, Dufferin-Peel Catholic and Peel district school boards this month, has been cause for recent concern, as it combines in-person and remote learners into the same class under the direction of one classroom teacher.
“Moving to this model requires yet another disruption in reorganization of classes as teachers and students are reassigned back to their home schools,” she said. “A well-designed, adequately funded school plan could have been developed and rolled out. It’s been frustrating and demoralizing to feel ignored, to feel like we don’t have a voice or a choice.”
In a previous statement about the hybrid learning model, Caitlin Clark, spokesperson for education minister Stephen Lecce, said the Ontario government believes in providing and supporting parental choice to decide what type of learning is best for their children.
“School boards decide how they deliver quality learning for students in class and online,” Clark said. “We have set the highest standards in Canada for remote learning.”
The action groups have launched the public consultation survey on , which will be open until Nov. 20, after which the groups plan to submit the results to the Ford government.
“Our plan to safely reopen schools, fully endorsed by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, has been informed by the best medical and scientific minds in the country,” Clark said, adding that the Ontario government is proud to be leading the country in COVID-19 school reopening funding.
“Our plan was informed by the voices of parents, educators and the medical community, and was designed to reduce the risk and keep students safe. We will never hesitate from taking further action to protect the health and safety of Ontario’s students and education staff,” she added.