Gifted students among those still in in-person classes
Unions say many capable of online learning in the interest of health safety
Children who have been identified as academically gifted are among the special-education students attending class in person during school closures at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
Three unions representing teachers and other educators at the board have sent a letter urging administrators to limit the students who can continue to attend schools to “very few” classrooms.
Susan Gardner, president of the Ottawa unit of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, said many of the gifted students, and some of those with learning disabilities, are able to use a computer to learn online at home.
“To my knowledge, we are the only school board in the province that has gifted students coming back during the pandemic (closure),” she said.
Union representatives have said they are concerned about the safety of students and staff in in-person classes.
The province shifted students in southern Ontario to virtual learning at home until Jan. 25 because of the rising threat posed by COVID-19.
However, the province told boards to provide in-person instruction for children with special needs who can't study remotely.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has 800 elementary and 250 secondary special-education students currently still attending class at schools, board director Camille Williams-Taylor told trustees Tuesday night. That is the majority of the 1,286 special-education students at 87 schools in specialized classes who are studying in person. (Students were also given the option of studying full-time online at home this year.)
The specialized classes include students with learning and developmental disabilities, autism, behaviour problems, blindness and deafness or giftedness.
Given the number of special-education classes on offer and the limited time school boards were given to prepare for remote learning, administrators “opted to provide access to all students currently enrolled and attending fully self-contained classes who were receiving in person learning before the (holiday) break and for whom remote learning does not allow them to access the program,” board spokesperson Darcy Knoll said in a statement.
“Staff were asked to contact the families of students registered in these classes to determine whether their child's learning needs could be met remotely and to discuss in-person and remote learning options.”
About 70 of the 150 gifted students enrolled in in-person classes this year have opted to continue attending in person, he said. Some of those students have double exceptionalities — for example, they might be both gifted and autistic — while others “may be challenged by time management, organization skills or self-motivation, which impacts their ability to participate meaningfully in remote learning.”
Three unions representing elementary and secondary teachers and other educators at the board sent a letter to director Camille Williams-Taylor on Monday saying they are deeply concerned about the safety of staff and students attending in person.
“While we understand that students with high needs require an individualized approach, we cannot deny that we are in exceptional circumstances that require increased layers of protection that are simply not being offered in face-to-face classrooms.
“We strongly encourage the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to close all but the very few exceptional in-person classrooms and to consult with educators regarding which of their students can indeed be accommodated virtually until community transmission is better understood.
“While we appreciate the importance of ensuring that our students in these special education classrooms receive support and access to learning, we also know that the health and safety of students and educators within these classrooms is paramount — as it must be.”
Gardner said she understands the board had to act quickly, but said it should only allow students who can't study remotely to attend school in person.
“The bottom line is that it's more exposure. For the student in the building and for the teachers.”
With the province in emergency lockdown, “why would we, except in extreme cases, put anyone in harm's way?” she said.
Some educators have said they are worried about pandemic safety in special-education classes where many students don't wear masks, are unable to physically distance or maintain hygiene such as washing their hands and keeping them away from their mouths.
Ottawa Public Health says it is
The bottom line is that it's more exposure.
For the student in the building and for the teachers.
scheduling visits to schools that are still offering in-person classes, including Clifford Bowey and Crystal Bay Centre — specialized schools for students up to age 21 with developmental delays — “to monitor and improve practices to reduce risks in order to protect the health of students, teacher and educational staff in the school setting.”
There have been no cases of COVID-19 this year at either Clifford Bowey or Crystal Bay, OPH said in a statement.
“Throughout the fall school term, OPH nurses and Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) specialists visited elementary and secondary specialized system classes in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board that are delivering in-person instruction and made recommendations and
conducted follow-up on those recommendations.”
At the Ottawa Catholic School Board, most special-education students are integrated into regular classrooms, said spokesperson Sharlene Hunter. The students who are in specialized classes, including those with autism or severe developmental delays, are being given the choice of going to school in person.
She was unable to provide numbers, saying more information would be given to trustees at a meeting Tuesday.
Gifted students at the Catholic board are integrated into regular classrooms, but this year spend one day each week joining other gifted students in virtual instruction, she said.