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The Waterloo Region District School Board has provided further information on its severe weather contingency plan during the pandemic - aiming to provide further details to students, staff and trustees on a process that prioritizes safety.
Making that presentation to WRDSB trustees on Monday was Pam Kaur, superintendent of student achievement and wellbeing with the board. Similar to previous plans under the pandemic, Kaur said that the collapsing and mixing of cohorts seen in the pre-COVID era no longer presents itself as a viable solution.
In the case that transportation to school is cancelled due to inclement weather, Kaur said that affected WRDSB schools will close and instead operate under a "Weather Impacted Remote Learning Day" for all in-person and remote students - designed to offer students the opportunity for "asynchronous consolidation of learning and review." Kaur notes that students will be able to access learning material through online platforms like their virtual classroom. In addition, related extended day programs and club and sport activities will also be cancelled.
"We want to reassure the community that these decisions will be made carefully and deliberately - based on the health and safety needs of our students," said Kaur.
In the event of severe weather, Kaur said that students, staff and parents should "monitor social media channels" as well as local media, as clear messaging on what to expect will be disseminated through school website and social media platforms.
During Monday's meeting of board trustees, trustee Cindy Watson had raised the notion that there have been previous complaints raised over the "business as usual" approach to inclement weather or "snow days", rather than students having the opportunity to "go outside and go sledding and do whatever you want.", while Kaur said that she's heard those complaints, though the last two years of pandemic response have improved the ability to still provide instruction on days where schools closed to in-person learning.
"I think our direction is consistent, but we did clarify last year when we had some feedback from the community around a sense of loss of the 'old snow days' where you could stay in your pyjamas for the day and enjoy the day - and also some concerns that emerged from an equity perspective about... what about those students who couldn't access the learning environment," said Lila Read, associate director of the Waterloo Region District School Board.
"One of the things that we did do was we refined our messaging, and really clarified for staff that on the weather impacted remote learning days ... it is a review of material that has already been presented and a consolidation."