Dear Ward 13 School Council Chairs
On April 13, 2021, the TDSB Board of Trustees passed a motion raising concerns over the proposition made by our provincial government to change remote learning in all Ontario public school boards. Although these plans were not communicated publicly by the province, major media outlets have posted many details. One of the more concerning components of the details published in the media relates to plans to shift remote learning from the school systems to TV Ontario.
Links to the media reports are as follows:
Key points the Board’s motion (and the Chair's forthcoming letter to the province) are as follows:
- There is no evidence to support that this policy change will improve student achievement or well-being;
- TDSB data shows that students and families prefer local in-person learning – which is the opposite of this proposal;
- Rushing through these radical changes to remote learning after a year of isolation and instability created by the COVID-19 pandemic risks causing real harm to our students; and
- The government must immediately stop its consideration of this proposal until the full impacts of remote learning on students during this pandemic are known.
For your information, sending the following links to a copy of the Board motion as well as letter of advocacy drafted by a community member.
I encourage you to take a look at the motion and familiarize yourselves with this topic as I expect there will be much more discussion to come.
Thank you,
James
