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Virtual School FI: A Different Solution Required

What would you do if you woke up one morning and your child’s teacher wasn’t there anymore? No message from the virtual school principal, the school board or other warning; the teacher your child had spent two months bonding with simply wasn’t there. This is what happened to many parents on the morning of Monday, November 2, when their child logged in to the TDSB’s virtual school.

Over the Halloween weekend, the TDSB began implementing what they hoped would be a solution to the shortage of French language teachers: for 92 classes teachers were reassigned to team teaching arrangements. This meant that many students had no school on Monday, November 2. On Tuesday, November 3, they were introduced to two new teachers, one for English and another for French. For some students in Grade 3 and Grade 4 French Immersion, this means they are being dropped to only 50% French instruction while their in-person peers are receiving 100% and 80% respectively French instruction. Some 800 students are having their education discounted. The bonds they built with teachers during a global pandemic are being upended.

This is not a viable solution.

We are lobbying to have this decision reversed and a better solution found. Concerned parents are contacting the TDSB, government and other decision-makers. Some parents spoke to the TDSB as Delegates at the November 10, TDSB Committee of the Whole meeting, pleading for help.

Please take a minute to read a summary of the issue and consider voicing your opinion on Facebook, Twitter (@tdsb), or in an email to your School Trustee and MPP.

Please use the following hashtags: #educationmatters #Virtual #education #covid19 #tdsb #onpoli #wellness #equality.

Thank you for your support of our students!

Sincerely,

The Humbercrest PS School Advisory Committee Executive