Hamilton’s public school board lays out possible scenarios for return to classroom

Hamilton parents were offered a glimpse of the possible scenarios for back-to-school this week and one of the possibilities has full classrooms on a full-time basis.

Hamilton parents were offered a glimpse of the possible scenarios for back-to-school this week and one of the possibilities has full classrooms on a full-time basis.

In a notice sent to Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) families on Tuesday (July 14) the public board shared several alternatives for the 2020-2021 school year.

“As of yesterday, July 13, we learned that the Ontario government is moving into Stage 3 and during a press conference, the Premier of Ontario signalled interest in having all students return to the regular school day: full day, every-day learning,” the notice said.

“This is also our preferred option with the proper public health and safety precautions in place.”

The HWDSB goes on to say that while a full-time scenario is the ideal, health and safety will be the top priority and a full-time return will not look like previous years.

“Cohorting (remaining with the same students), physical distancing, student and staff screening, hand hygiene and protective personal equipment (PPE) requirements in public education are being prioritized in these plans to mitigate risk through added health measures,” the notice says.

Ontario school boards were tasked with creating three reopening plans for September and the Ministry will let boards know in the coming weeks which scenario will be put into practice, the notice explains.

These are the HWDSB-devised scenarios:

Scenario A – Full Return: Students are in school full day, every day. This is the Ministry’s current preference; however, it is subject to change as circumstances change.
Scenario B – Adaptive Return: Students return with a blended approach to learning with both in-person learning and remote/distance learning. Each cohort will have up to 15 students per class or course, per day. Students who do not attend school in-person while public health measures remain in effect, will be offered remote/distance learning. Students with high levels of special education needs may attend daily in the adaptive return scenario.
Scenario C – Full Remote: Schools are closed, and students are in remote/distance learning.

Scenario B – Elementary Examples (To be confirmed)
Model 1: Cohort A attends Mondays, Wednesdays and every other Friday. Cohort B attends Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Friday.
Model 2: Cohort A attends Mondays, Tuesdays, and every other Wednesday. Cohort B attends Thursdays, Friday and every other Wednesday.
For full details, please visit Appendix D in the Board report, Elementary Models for Scenario B.

Scenario B – Secondary Examples (To be confirmed)
The Rotation Model: Students would attend a half-day in school on alternate days for one course and then have a half-day of remote learning for their other courses.

For example: Cohort A attends on Mondays, Wednesdays, and every other Friday. Cohort B attends on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Friday

The Quadmester Model: This model would be set at the start of the school and would remain the model for the entire school year even if we move to a full return.

The semester is divided in half and students attend school for two courses at a time. Students are cohorted into Course 1 (Cohorts A and B) and then again for Course 2 (Cohorts C and D). At the halfway mark, they are granted those two credits and then start the next quadmester of two courses.

For example: Cohorts A and C attend on Mondays, Wednesdays, and every other Friday. Cohort B and D attends on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Friday.

For full details, please visit Appendix E in the Board report, Secondary Models for Scenario B.