Special education students back in classrooms
While local elementary and high schools remain closed to in-person learning until at least Jan. 25 by Ontario’s lockdown, some students have already returned to classrooms.
Special education students who cannot participate in remote learning were back in physical classrooms on Jan. 11 across Ontario in a move the government said was recommended by experts.
About 13 to 16 high school students each day receive in-person learning at St. Peter Secondary School in Peterborough with about 14 staff members providing support to the students. The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board also has special education students in class at Kenner Collegiate, Crestwood Secondary School and Adam Scott Collegiate, as well as at Highland Heights, James Strath, Roger
Neilson and Queen Elizabeth public schools.
Boardwide, the public board has 19 schools with learning and life skills classes with about 250 students learning in person with 46 teachers and about 140 support staff.
Staff members are required to wear proper personal protective equipment and the same masking requirements are in place for the students that have been in place since September. Students are also being asked to don masks and to physically distance even when they are on an outdoor excursion to receive fresh air and exercise, according to Galen Eagle, spokesperson for the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board.
Virtual learning isn’t a good fit for everyone.
“Those students with exceptional special needs have had the option to come back to school if virtual learning was not a viable option,” said Catholic board education director Joan Carragher. “We have about students in school right now.”
Board wide, the Catholic board has about 90 staff members, including teachers, educational assistants and autism spectrum disorder workers in schools providing lessons and supports.
Some Ontario educators teaching students with special needs are raising safety concerns about the return to physical classrooms in southern Ontario while schools otherwise remain closed to in-person learning due to COVID-19.
“For my five- and six-year-old (children), it’s not safe for them to go to school, but it’s totally safe for my immunocompromised students to go to school?” asked Katie Swallowell,
a teacher working for a Catholic school board in London, Ont.
Swallowell, who teaches high school students with special needs, said some of her students may not wear masks or may have mask exemptions.
“Some of them don’t wear masks or they take them off because they hate them. Sneezing, coughing, hugging,” she said. “Some of them you can’t say no to. You try to say no, but they don’t understand and you feel bad.”
The Ministry of Education said students with special needs can benefit from the routine and consistency of in-class learning and noted that their return to physical classrooms comes with “strong health and safety measures.”