Dealing with bus cancellations and finding ways to keep the learning going

Be it the weather or unforeseen circumstances; sometimes school buses cannot run. In the past, a snow day, or a freezing rain day, might’ve meant staying home from school, watching afternoon television, and indulging in snacks. With the age of technology, and specifically, the advancements made over the last couple of years through the pandemic, teachers and school boards are finding ways to keep the learning going whether students are physically in the classroom or at home on the couch.

Earlier this month, Northern Gateway Public Schools Trustees discussed the topic of bus days and dealing with cancellations, which keep some kids from getting to school. Superintendent Kevin Bird said that division principals had recently spent time brainstorming on ways to plan for bus days to have something in place when those days popped up as a pre-emptive measure.

Trustee Steinke said he appreciated knowing that those discussions were happening. He then asked for an expansion on the topic, wanting to hear more about some of the ideas in the brainstorming session. “Part of it is that the schools have these discussions so they can learn from each other about the different practices that are already in place,” explained Bird. “There are classrooms that operate sort of in a dual world. There are online components that are done regularly, so students have access to it, whether it’s work pages or even access to what’s going on in the class. There are schools that have resources that are ready to go online so that if a family is at home during a bus day, they can hop on and see what activities are available, skill-building activities and things along those lines.”

Bird said that each school does things differently from the rest because, on a bus day, things are not the same for each school. “Some schools have most of the kids show up whether their buses run or not, and some schools have hardly anybody show up, maybe even nobody if the buses don’t run,” he explained.

For this reason, Bird said that the administration at each school is putting together plans based on their unique circumstances. “One of the things that was discussed was that maybe a package needs to go home ahead of time.” He said that perhaps on the first bus day of the year, teachers without students due to the lack of buses could spend time putting together packages in anticipation of the next bus day.

He theorized that the packages could then go home with students during the next in-person opportunity and be at home ready to go. “The next bus day rolls around, and you can start breaking out those packages and working on them. Those are the kinds of things that are being discussed. Again, we have a bit of an advantage with how easily our staff, generally speaking, work online putting things into their Google Classroom that kids can participate in no matter where they happen to be at.”

Bird said they know they have students who do not have internet access or have unreliable service at home. “What do we do around the students that don’t have access, and how do we, sort of, preload their home with materials and stuff that they can do? “ Having things set up in advance would potentially alleviate the stress on teachers, students, and parents alike in trying to set up learning remotely. Rather than rely on internet access, having resources downloaded onto devices or printed and organized at home would keep kids learning regardless of their broadband connectivity.

Bird said they also discussed how parents could “effectively use that time at home with what they have” and used baking as an example. “There’s all kinds of counting skills and stuff that take place (with baking). Sometimes people just need a bit more information about how I can make that more effective for my kids at home, especially with the younger kids. Anything involving manipulations and counting goes a long way.” Though the conversation was brief, Bird said that the first board meeting of the new school year in the fall would showcase more about the plans that each school in the division came up with.