Is your child going back to class? Local public school board needs to know

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The classroom roll call is coming early and big as two London-area school boards try to nail down how many of their nearly 100,000 kids actually will show up for class this fall.

As the area public and Catholic school boards get ready for school next month for the first since the COVID-19 shutdown hit in March, they’re asking parents to report if their children will be there, information that will shape the boards’ return-to-school strategies.

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“We’re very excited to be welcoming back our students to school, regardless of the model they select,” said Riley Culhane, associate education director at the 160-school, roughly 77,000-student Thames Valley District school board. “We’re doing all that we can to make it a safe and welcoming experience for all of our students and all of our staff.”

The London-area boards’ surveys come a week after the province announced its back-to-school plan for September. The plan, which calls for full-time classes for all elementary schools and some high schools, allows parents to decide whether to send their children to school or opt for full-time online learning instead.

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Parents of Thames Valley students are required to submit their response on the board’s online portal by Aug. 18. Separate entries must be made for each child, the public board said Thursday.

Thames Valley launched the survey Wednesday and had received more than 10,000 responses, Culhane said. The majority of the early responses are choosing in-class instruction for their children.

The data from the surveys is crucial as the public board finalizes staffing and its online learning program before school begins Sept. 8, Culhane said.

“That full remote learning program needs to be a (complete) educational experience like our face-to-face program,” he said. “We need time to make sure that we have adequate staffing in place to begin the school year.”

The London District Catholic school board, which has 22,000 students in 52 schools in London, Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin counties, will be releasing its own survey for parents soon, said communications director Mark Adkinson.

“We are putting the final touches on our back-to-school plan, which we’ll be presenting to our trustees next Wednesday evening,” Adkinson said in an email.

“We are aiming to post it online and distribute it to our families the next day so they are informed about what our plan is. At the same time, we’ll also send a survey to families asking about their in-person or at-home learning intentions.”

THIS IS THE BACK-TO-CLASS PLAN FOR LONDON, SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

A survey of 43,000 parents in Thames Valley in early July found about a quarter of respondents did not support or weren’t sure about sending their children back to school.

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Many London-area parents are still sizing up the province’s plan and haven’t made a final decision on whether to send their children, said Laura Gonzalez, president of the Thames Valley Council of Home and School Associations, an independent parent group.

“What I’m seeing is parents talking to each other,” Gonzalez said. “I think that’s where most parents are at right now. . . . Parents are just starting that conversation about what other families are doing and, if their children are older, engaging them in the conversation as well.”

Parents of children with other health conditions and families that have a vulnerable relative in their household are weighing the risks of attending class the most, Gonzalez said.

“I know some parents are waiting to see their doctors or specialists to get their opinion as well,” she said.

Thames Valley district school board will be releasing additional information about the return to class and full-time online learning next week, Culhane said.

In Ontario, all elementary school students across the province are able to return to class in-person, five days a week. While enhanced COVID-19 precautions, including face masks, will be implemented, pre-pandemic class sizes will return.

While many high school students across Ontario are returning to class five days a week, the school boards that cover London, Windsor and several other urban centres will be sending groups of students back on alternating days to allow for physical distancing.

High school classes in London and Windsor will be capped at 15 students. Students will alternate between in-class days and online learning days at home.

jbieman@postmedia.com