Coquitlam mom Teddy Parvanova has been amazed at the progress her sons have made in the Montessori program at Hampton Park elementary school.
In the past few years, her children, 7, and 8, have blossomed in the program of choice offered at their local school.
But fears that her son’s prior illness puts him at risk of COVID-19 complications has Parvanova considering homeschooling instead.
She’s one of thousands of parents across B.C. considering alternatives to face-to-face in-class learning because of worries about their children being exposed to or catching coronavirus.
“We keep talking about the numbers going up and more cases than ever. Then they say go back to school and you’ll be fine, I just don’t understand,” said Parvanova.
Like many parents with children attending popular programs of choice, such as French Immersion or Montessori, Parvanova is worried she will lose her spot in the coveted program if she pulls her son out to home school him even for a few months.
“I’m concerned all of a sudden my kids are losing their spots when they go back to school, or that they will lose their spot in the catchment area.”
While the province suggests homeschooling and distributed learning are options, it doesn’t specify what parents should do, except talk to their school and make a decision as soon as possible.
That’s not enough to calm Parvanova who is willing to home school her sons during the COVID-19 crisis but not for the long haul.
“I just think for at least the next year there should be some kind of leeway.”
The province has laid out its plan for back to school, which explains how learning groups will work, what will be done if someone gets sick and what protocols will be in place, including masks, to limit the spread of coronavirus.
But Parvanova still has questions about how the plan will roll out to keep people safe, especially when young children are involved and they have little self-control when it comes to touching their friends.
She’s not alone in her concern. Parents with children in French Immersion programs also want more options or some guarantee of placement should they choose to pull out of in-class instruction.
A spokesperson from Canadian Parents for French said he’s fielded many calls and emails from anxious parents and has reached out to the provincial government for answers.
“Obviously they don’t want to be kicked out of the program or lose their spot, that’s an obvious concern we would share,” said Glyn Lewis, executive director of the program, who added it’s important for the province to provide alternative options “that are meaningful” for French Immersion students.
A petition circulating in B.C. is also calling on the provincial government to take action to support students in programs of choice during these challenging times.
The “Freeze Student Placement Programs” at change.org has garnered hundreds of signatures for a request to the government to hold spots until families are ready to return their immunocompromised child to school.
The petition also calls for a French Immersion home school program similar to an English home school program.
School District 43 has numerous programs of choice including French Immersion, Mandarin Bilingual, Montessori and a Reggio Influenced program.
The distributed learning program is called Encompass for children in kindergarten to Grade 9, Grade 10-12 courses are also available via distributed learning,
Homeschooling is an option, but parents have to de-enrol from their regular school to participate.
In the most recent figures available, there were 3,876 students enrolled in French Immersion classes alone or 11.64% of total enrolment.
Meanwhile, School District 43 says it is still assessing the situation.
In an email to the Tri-City News, spokesperson Ken Hoff wrote:
"We are aware that there may be increased interest in homeschooling and Distributed Learning from immuno-compromised households. We are also cognizant of the fact that parents will want spots held in their neighbourhood school or program of choice, if their children are unable to attend school this fall. Plans have not been finalized but possibilities are being discussed to assess the ramifications of each scenario and we are taking into account the needs of our students and families as we finalize our plan for approval by the Ministry of Education. Once parents have received the SD43 plans, they will be better able to make decisions for their students and their families and discuss options with their school administrators."
Families will get further information in the middle next week, Hoff added.
