BURNABY, B.C. -- While there are variations in the back-to-school plans announced by Metro Vancouver districts this week, none are offering the option of online learning through a child’s school, something many parents want in September.
That choice is being offered in Calgary, and a Burnaby teacher says districts in B.C. should consider implementing the Alberta city’s plan.
“I really like Calgary’s hub online learning model, because it allows parents choice so that if they want to keep their child at home to do it online, they can,” said Jennifer Heighton, who teaches Grades 4 and 5 at Nelson Elementary in Burnaby.
“But the best thing about it is that it keeps the child’s spot in their local school. So that way, they can group students together who are from the same school and the same grade into the online classroom,” she said.
Heighton says it could also alleviate concerns about overcrowded classrooms in which students can’t physically distance.
“As long as you keep the staffing level of the building intact, then those parents that take children to do online at home will leave the remaining students in the school in a smaller class size,” she said.
The B.C. School Trustees Association says while there’s nothing stopping individual districts from implementing their own school-based online learning model here, there are challenges, and it would only work in cities with very large student populations like Calgary’s.
“They have a lot of students; they’re bigger than our biggest school district,” said BCSTA president Stephanie Higginson. “You need the critical mass to do it, to embed those kids in their community school, and you also need the flexibility with the teaching staff.”
In Calgary, some teachers who normally work in the classroom will be assigned to teach students who choose the online option. It’s unclear if the board will have to hire more teachers, something that would be difficult for already cash-strapped B.C. school districts.
“This hub online learning model is something that could happen, but to do it properly there needs to be the funding,” said Heighton. “If they really value keeping the second wave lower … the government can put the funding in, and I think they should.”
