Dear St. Paul Families,
I hope that you are all doing well and finding ways to stay active and engaged during these challenging times. In addition to the emails that I have been sending, I will now also be posting the updates here on my blog as well.
I wanted to update you on two communications I have received today, one from the Deputy Minister of Education, and one from CISVA Superintendent Deacon Henk Luyten.
From the Deputy Minister of Education:
The MOE has dedicated a response team for COVID-19 and is working with other ministries and partners to ensure a coordinated approach with education partners and health officials.
Work is in progress at the provincial level to help school districts and independent schools plan for how services and supports will be provided to students. An integrated planning framework will be available to educators before the end of this week.
Learning opportunities for students will be put in place as soon as practically possible. The Ministry’s expectation is that this planning process will begin as soon as spring break ends. This doesn’t mean that learning opportunities will start next Monday, as schools need time to plan.
From CISVA Superintendent Deacon Henk Luyten:
Much of the information from our superintendent related to Human Resources issues and concerns relating to CISVA staff, and an affirmation that they are working closely with provincial authorities to put a learning framework in place to be made available to CISVA schools in the coming week.
Two important notes for parents are the following:
Are tuition fees suspended?
No. Tuition fees are required to support ongoing teaching and learning during this pandemic. The Minister of Education has made it clear that while in-class learning has been suspended it is expected that schools ensure learning for students continues. This means that every student will receive a final mark, all students on track to move to the next grade will do so in the fall and every student eligible to graduate from Grade 12 this year will graduate. The Ministry of Education, the Superintendent’s office and CISVA schools are working now to put in place a plan that will allow students to continue their studies until the end of the school year. Schools will communicate this plan to families in the weeks after spring break.
No. Tuition fees are required to support ongoing teaching and learning during this pandemic. The Minister of Education has made it clear that while in-class learning has been suspended it is expected that schools ensure learning for students continues. This means that every student will receive a final mark, all students on track to move to the next grade will do so in the fall and every student eligible to graduate from Grade 12 this year will graduate. The Ministry of Education, the Superintendent’s office and CISVA schools are working now to put in place a plan that will allow students to continue their studies until the end of the school year. Schools will communicate this plan to families in the weeks after spring break.
The decision not to suspend tuition payments is a CISVA decision, not a local school decision.
And secondly, all St. Paul staff members will be back on the job on Monday, March 30th. We will be holding a staff meeting to begin the planning process for a learning framework for our students.
There will be more to communicate as the week goes on, and things could change from what has been stated here today, so please watch your email.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Yours in faith,
Maureen Moorehead.