When Josh Goodeill read last week that the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board was claiming to have slightly reduced class sizes, he scratched his head.
Goodeill teaches a Grade 6/7 split class at St. Nicholas Catholic School in Barrie. This year, he’s teaching 29 students.
“I was frustrated to read that when it’s not always the case. The school board has to work with board averages. So, if I have 29, that means someone else has a much smaller class size,” said Goodeill.
“One year, I had 21 students. It was a dream,” he said. “The average for the grades I teach is 25. That’s the cap for the average. I was surprised that (this was happening) in a pandemic year. This is the highest class size I’ve taught since 2008 when I had 33 students.”
“It’s all a funding formula. We’re not at lower levels. I don’t even have the biggest class size in the school,” he added.
At his school, Goodeill says the board has stayed true to their promise of having adequate supplies of PPE and cleaning supplies available.
“We have a hand sanitizer station at every door. The kids use it every time they leave one room, or come in to the building,” he said. “I feel supported. My principal is fantastic. She’s actually a retired principal who has come back because our original principal was moved to the virtual school.
“Both administrators we have this year are fantastic. I feel safe. We are constantly getting updates from them. They’ve tried to keep things as normal as possible for us,” Goodeill said.
Goodeill said he gets two 40-minute periods daily where students line up for a bathroom break. Whatever time is left after the bathroom break is spent outside doing physical education.
“When we go out for phys. ed., the custodians come into the class and clean all the high-touch surfaces such as doorknobs or desks,” he said.
Students are also given a 40-minute break for lunch. Half the time is spent eating lunch at their desk, the other half is spent on what is called ‘recess,’ but is spent at their desks.
“The back-to-school experience is very different because of trying to keep (students) socially distant and trying to get them to all keep their masks on,” said Goodeill. “It’s a bit of a challenge.”
Goodeill said teachers had been fighting for smaller class sizes prior to the pandemic. Physical distancing is impossible in his classroom.
“We’re doing as much as we can to keep (kids) safe, but when there are so many students in a small classroom, there isn’t enough space for them,” he said. “They also have to bring in their backpacks and jackets because we can’t use coat hooks.”
Goodeill said he talks with his students regularly about their feelings concerning the pandemic.
“They’re frustrated too. They don’t like wearing masks all day long. When we go outside to play games for phys. ed., they’re supposed to stay two metres away from each other. They have a hard time keeping that distance. They wish things were normal and they could play with their friends the way they always have.
“I’ll often hear from them, ‘Why do we need to be two metres apart outside when our desks are so close?’” said Goodeill.
