The New Westminster School District is working to make sure vulnerable kids don’t slip through the cracks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the school district’s projects so far are providing Chromebooks on loan to any student whose family doesn’t have technology available for online learning and offering free meals for those families who rely on school lunch programs for help throughout the week.
At the school board’s operations policy and planning committee meeting April 21, trustees also raised a number of other areas of specific concern – including students facing domestic violence, those who are English language learners, and those with special needs or mental health concerns.
Trustee Gurveen Dhaliwal pointed out that domestic violence calls have increased during the pandemic and questioned how the school district can support students and parents who may be caught in such situations at home.
Maryam Naser, the school district’s associate superintendent, said domestic violence isn’t something the district has specifically named in its communication so far, but she noted that the district is guiding staff – including principals, counsellors and child-care workers – to reach out to families on a regular basis. Naser added the school district is also training staff on how to be mindful of any “peculiarities” they notice with student behaviour in the online environment and reminding them of their duty to report anything that is worrisome to them.
“We keep a weekly log of any student with whom we have not had two-way communication during that week,” she said.
That means teachers not just reaching out via videoconference or telephone, Naser noted, but seeing some evidence of a student being engaged. When that doesn’t happen, the district will reach out to the family about why they haven’t heard from a particular child.
“That’s just another level of making sure,” she said.
Naser said a small number of families in the city have said they’re not interested in remote learning right now for a variety of personal reasons, and that’s a choice that families can make, but the check-ins help the district to determine when further follow-up is required.
“We’re all aware of the fact that school is a safe place for our students, and in the absence of school, there does need to be an increased amount of vigilance,” she said.
Trustee Mark Gifford raised the issue of ELL (English language learner) students and what kind of outreach the district is doing to help them.
Naser said the settlement workers in schools (specially trained workers who help newcomer students and their families adapt to Canadian life) are reaching out to families, and the school district is also connecting the settlement workers with teachers and principals.
“They’re quite willing to support ELL students not only with settlement-related issues but also homework support and the like, so we are taking advantage of that,” she said. “As well, our ELL teachers are supporting students and families with additional resources as well as their personal learning plans.”
The school district is also making plans to support vulnerable children in the six child-care centres it has set up. So far, those centres are caring for the children of front-line essential service workers, but the school district is now working to open up child care to more students.
Naser noted the district has already started child care for several students who require a great deal of one-on-one support.
“This week we have added several students with significant needs, and so far, so good,” she said.
Naser said the district is working with school principals to reach out to families of children with a variety of extra needs. For many families, she said, the need is more for respite care for part of the day rather than for full-time child care.
“We have heard from families where they are looking for respite, and we believe we can provide it and maintain the physical distance, so we will be moving forward with bringing those students into school,” she said.
Naser noted some challenges can arise in providing full-time care for students whose self-care needs require significant physical contact with a caregiver, and the district is currently working with Fraser Health on ways it may be able to help those students.
Right now, she said, the district is also reaching out to families of students with mental health needs. Some students are now getting one-on-one support through videoconferencing and phone calls, and Naser noted principals are now starting to invite students into the schools for counselling and other support.
“We do have the luxury of space in the schools right now, and we can offer face-to-face support for some of our students who might require that in the classroom settings,” she said.
Superintendent Karim Hachlaf told trustees that the district’s focus now is to work on “deepening the connection” to all the district’s families.
“We’re using teachers, EAs, specialist teachers, non-enrolling positions like counsellors, ELL, district support teachers, child-care workers,” he said. “We are using our entire staff to still reach out to families on a consistent basis and really continue to deepen that connection over this time.”
For up-to-date information on the school district’s COVID-19 response plans, see https://newwestschools.ca/covid-19-info-centre/
