Changes ahead as students head back to class
School year brings revised health and phys-ed programs plus new rules for cellphone use
The end of summer countdown is on for nearly 59,000 students who will return to Niagara’s elementary and secondary schools next week.
And at both boards, students can expect to see a few changes.
District School Board of Niagara will welcome approximately 600 new students next week, part of the total population of 37,784 that have already registered at elementary and secondary schools.
That’s the same number of new learners that entered Niagara’s English-speaking public education system at the start of the last school year.
“In the last two years we’ve seen our enrolment rise quite significantly,” said DSBN director of education Warren Hoshizaki.
He attributes that to new development in Niagara, but not in one specific area.
There will be a few changes to curriculum, such as in health and physical education.
The board will also start enforcing new rules on cellphones — they can’t be used in classrooms without approval from a teacher for educational reasons.
Hoshizaki said this isn’t anything new, and the board’s policies are in line with the government’s stance.
“We fit right into it. Our teachers make those decisions all the time,” he said.
Niagara Catholic District School Board estimated in June there would be 417 fewer students across its facilities to begin the upcoming academic year — but that number is very fluid, said education director John Crocco.
As of late Friday morning, 14,363 elementary students were registered with the Catholic board and there were 6,720 high school students.
They will register on opening day Tuesday and during the coming weeks. Final numbers don’t have to be submitted to the ministry of education until late October, giving the board a “firm handle” at that time, said Crocco.
“Things will change. Those are approximate numbers,” he said in an interview, adding enrolment is expected to increase over the next few years.
Last school year, there were 14,382 students in Niagara Catholic elementary schools and 6,478 more in high schools.
In the Catholic board’s $268million budget, approved in June, a decline of 339 kindergarten and elementary students was projected, as well as 78 fewer secondary students.
Crocco said the numbers have decreased considerably, reiterating that figures aren’t finalized until a few weeks into the school year and students will be registering over the next couple of weeks.
A total of 42 teaching positions were considered redundant in June.
But with enrolment as it is, all of those teachers will be in classrooms next week “to meet the needs of students in various capacities,” Crocco said Friday.
Changes to Indigenous education, revised health and physical education courses, and concussion awareness are some of the new programs students can expect.
A total of 150 projects for a price tag of $19.5 million were completed this summer, said Crocco.
Crocco said Niagara Catholic’s rules on cellphone use in the classroom are precisely what the province has laid out in its new guidelines.
“Within the classroom, it’s always been approved by the teacher,” he said.
“This was ahead of the new legislation,” he added, explaining the board revisited its policy in 2018.
Niagara Regional Police will be out in full force Tuesday for its annual All Hands on Deck initiative.
Spokesperson Stephanie Sabourin said officers from numerous units will be visible all around the community all day.
“Focus will be traffic enforcement, speed enforcement, distracted driving and seatbelts,” she said.