Thread by @shelleylaskin

Join us for Committee of the Whole beginning at 4:30 - among agenda items an update on school reopening as well as a discussion of the Director Search criteria tdsb.on.ca/stream/boardme…

Meeting begins with a timed item on the Toronto Lands Corporation - extension of terms for Citizen Directors to allow continuity of its processes

The next TLC item is really interesting about negotiating for a new elementary school on the former Christie Cookie Factory site tdsb.on.ca/Leadership/Boa…

Plan is for 30 tower redevelopment! We would be looking to build a 500 JK-8 school that would feed to Lakeshore Collegiate. It is important for us to express interest in the site now although the school may not be built for 20-30 yrs.

Trustee @Steph4schools gives @OPSBA report. Information on the AGM can be found here opsba.org/SitePages/EVEN…

Agenda was reordered... we are now hearing from delegates - student speaks to us about school reopening communications... and that we should be communicating directly to students #studentvoice

The next group of delegates are speaking to us on the Director of Education Search Criteria - @tdsb is considering the following report this evening tdsb.on.ca//Leadership//B…

Common theme above all else... confirmIng priority #1. Director must continue with true #equity #antiracism work... there is more to do to ensure all students succeed; requires differentiating funding to address inequities/rebuilding of trust based on demonstrated actions

Recess now... back at 7:10 to hear the latest information on reopening plans

Director @TDSBDirector begins return to school report by thanking all staff at all levels in schools for welcoming students - acknowledges frustration, anxieties - and we are almost there! Putting final touches on virtual school - enrolment now at 77,000 students

Update on #virtualschool - @manonjgardner 11,000 more students that our previous report (1000 opted out) - now 31% of school population - 26% secondary; 33% elementary; all staff are dedicated to making this a great experience for all students

Elementary SO - on track for registering 56K students in Trillium - JK-4 clustered in classes in the same grade from the same home school as possible; in some cases only 1 student - grades 5-8 registered by grade with balance of male/female - not as consistent from home school

e-mails sent to all Virtual parents this afternoon and on-boarding invitations to sign up to Brightspace - assigning teachers shortly - all teachers welcomed this evening - preparing lessons to help teachers build the on-line environment - students will be mailed access Monday

SO @RonFelsen Secondary - update - 6 principals, 8 VPs, working around the clock to set students up for success - looking at individual students, courses, sections - first teachers placed last week; working on filling vacancies this week - Sunday evening began loading Trillium

Guidance counsellors from home schools supporting both in-school and virtual students - helping with courses and mental health and wellness - doing on-boarding for all - 1800 students still to register - working as quickly as possible

Providing ESL, ISP, French Immersion, Extended French, AP Courses, IB Courses - but some specialized programming cannot be offered virtually - website will be updated including contact information for families - confident we will get there for Tuesday

Question - please add schools by Learning Centres - finalizing opening and will work through protocol; on boarding for parents asking re Brightspace... information provided in letter out to parents; as we communicate can we highlight what’s new!

I asked about all the concerns re Brightspace I have seen on Twitter and asked staff to add to the information online

Details re @tdsb Virtual School are posted tdsb.on.ca/News/Article-D…

Adult Day School - update - 45% online... we are offering an option for online or in-person. @pctdsb working on “hub” approach to offer more courses

Question re why didn’t we look at the hub approach for ADS earlier? @manonjgardner spoke that the approach needed more flexibility - waited for response first, then offering more re hubs

Information re Brightspace can be found here tdsb.on.ca/Virtual-School… Asked staff to update to answer questions and concerns from Twitter

One of the reasons staff respond that went to in-house approach for ADS was to ensure teachers who knew students best could work with the same teachers - working with Union partners on this for greater stability - quad dates will stay status quo - 45 days instruction in each quad

Each ADS student can take up to 3 courses, not 2 - staff are monitoring to ensure cycles can be completed - making every effort to offer full range of courses - dependent on course selection and teacher offerings - working through that now

Speaking now to the app - @manonjgardner speaks to uptake increasing - will continue to monitor use as per request re @TOPublicHealth

AD Witherow speaks to PPM164 and requirements for synchronous learning - re parent exemption - incorporating minimum standards of minutes in @tdsb Virtual School - parent will be asked for number of minutes they are comfortable with - and may ask for a full exemption...

Exemption would apply to elementary and secondary virtual but not in-school - parents have dates to apply - first date is September 30 - form goes to P/SO - students would not be exempted from attendance or assessments; if they want to opt out completely - advise home schooling

Re the @tdsb Connects app and timetables - and the day cycle - asking schools to manually put the right day of the cycle into their app! Day 1 is the 17th!

EO Gold speaks to class size relative to "target" caps - manage staffing the schools and real-time enrolment updates - while the teaching office was approving models they were looking at class sizes - about 40 models were approved with additional staff - will continue to monitor

Paying special attention to French programs - where they have become very small, as we give out additional staffing we have to keep in mind the qualifications of staff who can speak French - as part of reorganization at the end of the month, there can be some rebalancing

Now AD @kgfalcon speaks to School Councils - spoke to EDU - regard Virtual School as temporary option - separate school does not mean separate school council -conversations with @TorontoPIAC on September 22

EO Shaw speaks to ventilation - filtration is removing impurities from the air eg HEPA filters - they do not increase air flow or cubic feet of air or increase the number of fresh air changes - only way to increase ventilation is opening windows or mechanical ventilation

From @TOPublicHealth suggests Covid respiratory droplets travel 2 m - typically as the droplets hit the ground they burst - and are destroyed with disinfectants - staff do not believe HEPA filters will improve ventilation rates; that said, we continue to work with @TOPublicHealth

Re School Nurses @TOPublicHealth are looking at our schools and working with Principals to ensure all strategies are in place - they are doing it on a priority basis and as part of this they are working with staff to let them know how to access services and deal with outbreaks

There is also a @TOPublicHealth School Outbreak Management Team who will support public health nurses and Principals - re physical distancing outside - supporting schools with painting circles outside - will complete this week; issue re hand dryers; checked with TPH - they are OK

Communication speaks to commitment for updating the Covid cases on our website tdsb.on.ca/Return-to-Scho…

Time for more questions - regarding use of city park space - AD Witherow responds that guidelines have been provided through our Outdoor Learning Centre - local schools may have made arrangements - we are encouraging outdoor education and environmental education

Re water filling stations - anticipate having one unit within every building shortly - once that's done we will add additional units based on student population

Require standard language on HEPA filters and tents - so we can all be clear and provide clear communication - another question - secondary schools are on Day 1 across the system tomorrow!

Clarification re those who opt out of synchronous - AD Witherow confirms there will not be generic paper packages provided - even if exempt students will go into Brightspace to receive their work - if synchronous down/asynchronous goes up

Questions re additional caretaking - EO Shaw confirms in the process of filling vacancies - plan is to add more resources to priority areas to the day shift; question re reorganization - first two weeks of October

Through questions confirmed that it is a local school decision re outdoor lunch or whether students can go to local restaurants for lunch, etc. It is also a local decision how to stagger lunch and recess -

Request to publish school air quality - with regard to volume of work required @tdsb schools for mechanical ventilation - will take until the Spring/Summer of 2021 - funding came late but work is on-going - in design stage e.g., cooling centre initiative took 4 years to complete