Petition: TDSB Virtual School Students and Teachers Deserve Better

On Thursday, October 29, 2020, hundreds of parents and teachers in TDSB Virtual School French programs received emails from the TDSB that within two working days the Board would make significant changes to teachers’ assignments and students’ classrooms in Virtual School French Immersion and Extended French programs.

These changes:

• take teachers away from students with whom they have already built and established a classroom community since the beginning of the school year;
• doubles class sizes for teachers, meaning less personalized one-to-one contact with students; and
• reduces the number of French minutes for students in some grades.

This shift comes immediately in the wake of the TDSB’s disruptive decision to assign Virtual School Core French Teachers to simultaneously teach synchronously and asynchronously, doubling their workload and creating a dangerous precedent for all teachers and the students with whom they work.

While we understand the TDSB’s rationale, that it has had ongoing difficulties staffing French Immersion, Extended French, and Core French programs in Virtual School, the TDSB’s solution is:

• disrespectful to teachers, as its being implemented without proper consultation;
• harmful in that in disrupt students’ social and emotional security by taking them away from their teacher; and
• creating stress and anxiety for students, parents, and teachers alike.

This issue is one of many negatively impacting student success in the TDSB’s Virtual School program. These concerns, which also must be addressed, include:

• lack of Special Education support;
• no Designated Early Childhood Educators (DECEs) in Virtual School Kindergarten programs;
• insufficient technology, tech support, and resources to meet program delivery needs;
• no classroom budgets;
• no preparation subject providers;
• last minute Board communications; and
• massive class sizes.

We the undersigned therefore demand:

1. That the TDSB immediately pause the planned changes to Virtual School French programs announced on Thursday, October 29, 2020, and communicate to parents as well as ETT members that it is pausing the announced changes in Virtual School French Immersion/Extended French programs, so that meaningful consultation can occur and an agreed upon and a viable plan can be implemented.
2. That teachers who lost access to their original Brightspace shall be immediately reinstated.
3. That the TDSB immediately contact ETT to set up a meeting to create a meaningful consultation process with the Union and Virtual School teachers to create a more viable Virtual School plan, which will include addressing the necessary supports, resources, and timeframes for the successful implementation of Virtual School.

Our students and teachers in Virtual School deserve no less. We look forward to hearing a response from the TDSB.

List of Signatures