The suspension of in-person classroom learning as a result of COVID-19 pandemic precautions could have a greater detrimental impact on lower-income students in Thompson, a significant proportion of whom do not have internet access at home.
School District of Mystery Lake (SDML) superintendent of educational services and programming Lorie Henderson told the district’s board of trustees at their April 21 meeting, which was broadcast via Facebook, that about one in six students in the district do not have access to the internet and that there is only one of the district’s seven schools where all students have it.
“Students without connectivity, right now our number is 498 students across the district,” she said.
There are approximately 3,000 students enrolled in SDML schools.
Schools have been unable to contact a similar proportion of students since classes across Manitoba were suspended at the end of the day March 20.
“This is our early numbers but there’s been concern with students who have not had any contact with the schools,” Henderson told the board. “We’ve received the information from the schools and to date we have 453 students who have not made contact or the schools haven’t been able to get a hold of the parents. If you haven’t heard from the teachers or the school, please reach out. The communication needs to be ongoing. That’s about 15 per cent of our population.”
The inability to contact these students and their families is not due to a lack of effort, Henderson said.
“One of our schools that were having a hard time contacting parents … there were 270 home visits to one school’s population,” Henderson said. “The work continues.”
Another 131 students who came to Thompson from outlying communities, some of which do not have high schools, have returned home since school was suspended.
“They’re still in contact with the schools,” Henderson said.
The district has loaned out 64 electronic devices to students to enable them to participate in online learning.
A web portal to help parents assist teachers in ensuring learning continues while classes are suspended is available at www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/mylearning/index.html in both English and French as well as for students in French immersion.
“I know that parents are feeling very overwhelmed with the remote learning,” said Henderson. “I know there’s been lots of questions around learning expectations.”
Further information regarding the roles and responsibilities of schools, teachers, parents, caregivers and students is expected to be coming from the province shortly.
R.D. Parker Collegiate principal Rob Fisher said in his April 19 email announcement to parents and caregivers of Grade 9 to Grade 12 students that students are expected to complete assigned work and that teachers can use their professional judgment to determine the appropriate amount of learning time and the format of student assessments, though teachers should plan for a minimum of three hours of curriculum-based learning per week for semestered courses.
“Students in Grades 9–12 will receive, at minimum, the grades they achieved at the time of suspension of classes, (your midterm report card mark) but they will be required to engage in remote learning, Fisher wrote. “Students will have the opportunity to increase marks. Students who do not engage in remote learning will be required to undertake recovery learning next school year. We are still waiting for direction of what ‘recovery learning’ will mean so to be sure there are no problems later, engage in the learning that is being provided to you by your teachers and complete your assignments to the best of your ability.”
Remote learning is difficult for teachers as well as students, says Thompson Teachers’ Association president Cathy Pellizarro.
“It is definitely a challenge and teachers are all working hard to meet the individual needs of all students,” Pellizarro said.
Henderson said all district staff are making great efforts to provide the best education they can under unprecedented circumstances.
“This has been and uncharted journey and will continue indefinitely,” she said. “We have many staff members who are willing to go above and beyond to meet the needs of our students both academically and in their well being. So many of our students just want to be back in school. They miss everything about school, especially the people who make a difference in their lives. My wish is that they are all OK and receiving all that they need to learn and grow. If students are struggling or just want to check in, please reach out to your school or teacher. All of our phones and emails are checked regularly.”
