Parents grow increasingly anxious as September nears: ‘We are worried sick about what we are going to do,’
Too many unknowns exist as registration deadline looms, they say
With the deadline looming to register kids to return to school — or opt for remote learning — parents across the GTA say they are being forced to make critical decisions about their children’s educational future without sufficient information around class sizes, safety protocols and what online learning will actually look like.
For the public school boards in Toronto, Peel and Halton, the deadline to register a decision is next Monday, while York Region District School Board’s deadline is this Friday. Parents with children in the Durham District School Board submitted their decisions earlier this week.
But the process, particularly for parents in the Toronto District School Board, has been fraught with chaos, confusion and mounting anger at how the registration is being rolled out.
With the Ford government’s plan to reopen schools in September, but doing little to limit class sizes, school boards across the province have been faced with the difficult task of giving parents direction and options without all the details at hand.
Schools across Ontario shut down after March break and switched to online learning after the province declared a state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are worried sick about what we are going to do,” said Karen Leiva, whose son is supposed to go into senior kindergarten in September, but her husband is a transplant recipient and at high-risk for COVID-19. “He can’t go back to a regular class, it’s too much risk. And at the moment, they are asking us to make decisions based on little to no information.
“It’s so chaotic, it’s confusing, and frankly, it’s so incredibly disappointing. Parents are so stressed out.”
Unlike most other school boards which have sent out a survey for families to fill out, the TDSB first opted for a robocall, saying it was the quickest way to reach families and process their choices. The robocall consisted of asking families to choose between two options for their return.
But the choices were not what people expected.
“They added in an option that has confused everybody,” said Toronto mom Jennifer Bain. “It’s not just a matter of picking in-school or remote, but what they did out of nowhere is … they added in a theoretical question of, would you return if there is a school day with smaller classes? So people who are not following this closely now think there are smaller classes, and are terrified they made the wrong choice if they chose A over B.
“They should have explained why that weird question even showed up,” said Bain.
Ryan Bird, a spokesperson for the TDSB, said the survey contained a series of options because trustees passed a motion at the last board meeting urging the province to provide additional funding for smaller class sizes.
“We do understand it’s not as clear cut as a yes or no, but being able to know that piece of information is very important … so that we were ready should we receive funding from the ministry,” he said. On Wednesday, the TDSB and trustees publicly acknowledged the confusion around the “preregistration” process and asked for “patience” in a Q&A sent out to families.
“We want to sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding,” the email states. “This is a complex process — one that has never been undertaken in the TDSB’s history — but one that staff are committed to working with families to complete.”
But parents say instead of providing clarity, the Q&A document has made it worse.
Others say the questions on the call were so poorly worded, that there was confusion among parents as to what they had even opted for.
“The first question didn’t explain there was another question coming,” said Leiva. “Once we got off the phone, both my husband and I were like ‘What just happened?’ ”
Leiva said she felt compelled to send an email right after to the school principal, and trustee to make sure her selection was clarified.
She said even with the “clarification” on the Q&A document, it’s still unclear.
According to the TDSB clarification, if you say no to coming back to school, but yes to a smaller class option, you will be put into remote learning. But if you said yes to both options, you will attend school with regular class sizes.
“It is such bad communication, it’s awful,” said Bain. She said she won’t make any decisions about her daughter entering Grade 7 until all her questions are answered in person.
“I have at least 10 questions that have not been addressed anywhere, and I need answered before I can make my decision,” said Bain. They include things like how middle school class rotations will work, and what remote learning will actually look like.
One of the concerns parents raised was around the “pre-registration” itself: “There’s a whole confusion over whether this is a survey that has no consequences or if this is a registration that is irrevocable,” she said.
According to the TDSB Q&A, the robocall is the actual registration. However, if people don’t respond they will be emailed an online form, and as a last resort, they will receive a call from their home school about their intentions.
Bird acknowledges that things “have not been perfect.”
“We recognize we don’t have all the answers and that is frustrating for everyone involved,” he said. “But we are trying to get the information out as soon as we can. Unfortunately, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
He said there is some flexibility if parents change their minds prior to the start of the school year. After the week of Aug. 24, requests for change will have to be made directly with schools.
Some boards are already seeing the result of all the confusion play out. In Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, which has approximately 81,000 students, 25 to 30 per cent of parents in elementary and secondary schools have indicated a preference for online learning, according to board spokesperson Bruce Campbell.
OISE professor and former Deputy Minister of Education Charles Pascal said what is unfortunate is that the chaos could have all been prevented with a little foresight on the part of the government.
“There is so little time to deal properly with confusing local options for parental decisions,” said Pascal.
“The letter sent to parents of TDSB was not helpful, but that’s what happens when a well-intentioned board is put into a pressure-cooker by the minister,” he said, adding that delaying the start of school for a month would help sort out some of the confusion.
But for Kathryn Dunmore, who recently became a guardian for her seven-year old nephew, said she has few options but to send him back to school.
“It’s quite scary,” said Dunmore, who lives in Oakville, and has no other child care options available. “As a parent, you can take all the precautions and prepare your kids … but what else can you do?”
She said her biggest concern is the same as for all parents: Am I making the right choice for my family?
“Whether you are putting them out there, or keeping them home, either way, it’s an added stress on us,” she said. “And both decisions are not easy.”