Preliminary survey results are in and about 80 per cent of students in local Catholic schools will be heading back to class in person.
On Tuesday morning, the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board released preliminary results from its back-to-school survey. Approximately 12,500 families completed the survey, representing 20,147 students. This accounts for about 90 per cent of the Catholic board’s student population county-wide.
Of those students, 80 per cent (16,047) are registered for at-school learning. About 20 per cent (4,100) will be participating in at-home/remote learning.
“It’s hard to make class structure and staffing (decisions) without really knowing what those numbers are,” said Catherine McCullough, interim director of education with the Catholic board. “This was a really important step and we want to know this as soon as possible.
“Things are clearer now than they were last week,” she added.
Of the 80 per cent of students who will attend school in person, 26 per cent will walk or bike to school, 48 per cent will take the bus and 26 per cent will have a caregiver responsible for their arrival and pick-up.
“That may translate to ... way more space on buses,” McCullough said. “It appears this is not going to be a crowded situation by any means on the bus.”
About 13 per cent of all children are expected to access before- and/or after-school care.
“The 10 per cent we haven’t heard from is still a significant number of families,” said McCullough. “We know who we haven’t heard from. We’ll use our internal messenger to reach out to them through the school, so that way it’s a bit more personal.”
The Simcoe County District School Board extended its survey deadline and is waiting on results. On Tuesday morning, an official with the board indicated its survey results would be released once they are finalized.
