Vancouver kids who don’t return to school immediately can keep their classroom spots

New learn from home program in Vancouver The Vancouver School Board’s newly revised plan offers a learn from home program. CTV’s Ben Milijure reports.

Vancouver — As B.C.’s back-to-school date approaches, the Vancouver School Board has decided that families can hang onto their child’s spot at school even if they choose to keep their kids home.

With COVID-19 infection rates rising in the province, the new option means that elementary school kids don’t risk losing their classroom spot at the school they’re familiar with.

“Students would likely receive support through one-on-one check-in times with a teacher assigned by the district,” wrote the VSB in a statement.

The new “Learn From Home Transition Program” will be a temporary option, and kids whose families opt in will “remain enrolled in their local school and would be placed in a learning group for possible transition to in-person instruction this school year,” it continues.

The move means there are now four options for families to choose from as educators face the unprecedented challenge of restarting the education system.

Sixty-nine per cent of families say they will send their kids back to school for full-time in-person instruction, according to a survey conducted by the district. In this option, elementary school students may be placed in learning groups of up to 60 students and staff for lunch breaks, recesses and other activities that take place outside the classroom.

Another 29 per cent say they’re interested in the new “Learn From Home” option, while two per cent each said they’re preparing for either independent home-schooling or home-schooling with the structure and support of the Vancouver Learning Network – an already-existing home-schooling program through the Vancouver School Board.