GECDSB to offer virtual school instead of a hybrid option for learning in September

Windsor, Ont. — The Greater Essex County District School Board has opted to do a virtual school for those not returning to the classroom in September, rather than a hybrid model.

The decision comes as a relief to teachers’ union president Erin Roy who says they were advocating for this.

“At the end of the school year we had put together a big campaign saying no hybrid because we don't think that it's very pedagogically sound,” Roy told AM800 News. “So at that point the board had talked about reconsidering," she says. "So they did that reconsidering and with over 600 students selected remote in the secondary level I think they made the right decision."

If the school went with the hybrid option, teachers would be teaching in-person and via a webcam to students at home.

“They didn't do the survey for students until the end of July and with the number of students that selected remote, I think it'll just be better for students and staff all around.," Roy explained to AM800. "They will have their own classes and will be taught through one mechanism and not splitting the teacher's and student's attention by having to teach in two different ways."

A total of 600 high school students out of 12,000 in the public board will be online this coming school year.

There will be 1,400 elementary students also in virtual school out of the 26,000 younger students.