Many students still at school as remote learning begins

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This article was published 13/05/2021 (1749 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WHILE the overwhelming majority of students are learning at home for the rest of the month, nearly half the population at one elementary school in Winnipeg are still attending in-person classes, within public health guidelines.

As of Wednesday, all students in K-12 in Winnipeg and Brandon shifted to remote learning to address a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Only the students of critical service workers who are in Grade 6 or younger, learners deemed at-risk of disengaging from school, and pupils with additional needs are eligible to go to school — if their caregivers cannot organize remote supervision during the school day.

Most divisions in the Manitoba capital indicated fewer than 20 per cent of their total student populations are continuing to go to school in person, owing to the above exemptions, as of Wednesday. Schools are accommodating students based on available space and staffing.

Eleven per cent of pupils in Louis Riel were in class Wednesday, while approximately 12 per cent of learners who attend four St. Norbert-area schools in Seine River did the same.

In River East Transcona and St. James-Assiniboia, roughly 13 per cent of their student populations will attend in-person classes this month.

Around 19 per cent of students have critical service worker guardians in central Winnipeg, with a notable number of health-care workers in Wolseley.

In-class attendance is also expected to be approximately 19 per cent in Pembina Trails this week.

Seven Oaks schools are reporting between 15 to 25 per cent capacity.

In the francophone division, in-person attendance ranges from 15 to 48 per cent across seven elementary schools in Winnipeg.

“We understand it puts a lot of stress on parents, but having all students in a class (as we would have preferred) would mean being in code orange,” Alain Laberge, superintendent of the Division-scolaire franco manitobaine, said in an email Wednesday.

Families with two parents who are critical service workers or single-parent families where a caregiver is a critical worker are top priority for in-class spaces, Laberge said.

Manitoba Education guidelines outline two tiers of critical service workers. The first includes parents who work in health care, K-12 education, child-care facilities, law enforcement and corrections, social services and child protection fields, as well as first responders. Caregivers who are gas station attendants, grocery store employees and truck drivers are among the second tier.

In Seven Oaks, superintendent Brian O’Leary said some schools have received “significant pressure” from families who want to keep kids in school.

“Parents just have to really understand that the purpose of this isn’t to penalize them, but to break the possibility for transmission in our schools and that means having as few students in schools as possible for the next three weeks,” said Radean Carter, spokeswoman for Winnipeg School Division.

Schools have largely been relying on the honour system when approving in-class attendance, Carter said.

Despite being a critical service worker, Grace Esposito opted to have her fifth grader study at home this month because she can work remotely.

“Learning in school is the best thing for him,” said Esposito, but the St. Vital mother added she wants to reduce her family’s exposure as cases rise in her community.

One day in, she said, the remote program has been a huge success in comparison to last spring — owing to a rigid new schedule and her son’s new technology know-how.

“In K-6, we learned a lot over the year in contrast to how we came into this cold last March,” said Christian Michalik, superintendent of Louis Riel.

In schools, there will be a mix of supervised remote learning and in-person lessons in physical classrooms across the city until May 30.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca