Communication problems muddle start of OCDSB virtual school
Parents with kids starting virtual school with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) Friday are frustrated with what they say is a lack of communication.
The OCDSB now has 17,000 students learning virtually, 13,000 of them in elementary grades.
Some parents with a spot in the virtual schools said Thursday they didn't feel ready.
"I don't know what her programming would look like. I have no information about a teacher. So we have no idea how to access a class that should be happening tomorrow," said Amanda Young, speaking about her daughter in Grade 2.
She said it's a similar story for her son's Grade 8 class.
She said she has received generic emails from the board with login information and hasn't been able to contact the virtual school either. That makes both her and her kids anxious.
"Their questions are more centred around 'What am I going to be doing tomorrow? Because I don't know,' and I don't have any answers to give them."
Jacob Hanna admits his family was late with its request for virtual learning, missing the Aug. 26 deadline by about a week, but he said it was not an easy decision.
"We felt as parents of four children adapting to an ever-moving story that we could not make that decision [by then]. We couldn't feel safe about it," he said, adding he was told by his daughter's vice principal she would have a spot.
On Thursday, he received an email from the principal explaining that the virtual school was full, his daughter would be placed on a waiting list and she would have to attend in person.
"We never got any formal course selections from our initial virtual school correspondence, like she literally slipped through the cracks," he said.
"In the virtual world, where's the capacity issue? How do you run out of space in a Zoom call? There should be a little room for a margin of error there."
Requests being worked on
The OCDSB said Thursday that over the past few weeks staff have been working to set up these new virtual classes and finalize teaching assignments and schedules.
Twenty-five of its 700 virtual school jobs at the elementary level are unfilled, meaning classes without a full-time teacher will have an occasional teacher to begin. Staffing is expected to be finalized with a week.
Until that work is completed, it said new change requests will not be processed and when they are, will be based on space and availability.
Those on a wait list will be considered after home and virtual schools finish restaffing and timetabling.
The OCDSB said parents who registered should have received an email from their child's teacher, if assigned, or the principal if the class isn't staffed yet.
It said if parents haven't had communication, they should contact the school.
