Perhaps it's not surprising fewer students are signing up for online schooling this year, but the drop in enrolment is nonetheless dramatic.
Last month, the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board reported a 90.6 per cent drop in the number of elementary school students who enrolled. Only 43 opted for online learning this year. For secondary school students, enrolment went from 400 to just 19, down 95.2 per cent.
The drop in enrolment at the Greater Essex County District School Board is almost as pronounced.
Public Relations Officer Scott Scantlebury said about 900 elementary school students and 470 secondary school students signed up last year. That's down to 140 and 470, a drop of 87.7 per cent and 70.2 per cent.
Scantlebury said the public school board seven teachers are assigned to teach elementary school online this year, and five for high school.
The school board just released its enrolment figures for remote learning this week.
Back at the Catholic school board, Communications Coordinator Stephen Fields said staffing the online schools won't impact the bottom line.
"From a human resources perspective, it's simply a case of redeploying teachers who would have been in the classroom to a virtual environment," he wrote to WindsorNewsToday.ca. "Typically, those teachers still report to a school and teach their classes to remote learners there. The government continues to provide financial support for additional COVID-related costs, such as teachers, but that accounts for a small amount of the money we received."
The Catholic board spent $210,000 last year to supply students with computers. The Ministry of Education covered the cost.
"This year, remote learners are required to supply their own tech. However, we will try to support anyone who might be in genuine need," said Fields.
Ontario school boards are required to provide students with remote learning options again this year.
