Back to school list: 4 views on what N.B. students should expect in September

Jana Comeau, chair of Kennebecasis Valley High School Parent School Support Committee

Jana Comeau says it's disheartening that the New Brunswick Department of Education hasn't assured parents and teachers that in a few short weeks, school will return to normal across the province for the first time since March 16, 2020. 

"It will just be negligence on the department's front if it's decided that they're going to impose something that really isn't anticipated," said Comeau, who has two daughters in high school.

She's assuming that all restrictions in schools will be dropped in September if the province remains in the green recovery phase that went into effect at the end of July. 

The Department of Education says it's still working on "updated guidance" for the 2021-2022 school year. Until it's released, sometime within the next few weeks, CBC News has been told that Education Minister Dominic Cardy would not be available for an interview. 

"Why is he creating this aura that there's more to come?" asked Comeau. "Is this fun for people to sit around and wait for the final shoe to drop? So many people are impacted by this."

Comeau says her daughters did manage to keep pace with their classwork last year, including her oldest, Kyra, who only attended school on alternating days. 

But Comeau questions what was really accomplished academically. 

"A lot of the students who did put in the work last year got really high grades, but that was based on huge chunks of the curriculum being removed," she said. 

She fears much of this year will be spent on catch-up, tailored for those who got most left behind as well as those who struggle with a return to more structure.

"Some of these kids have been in their pyjamas for two years," she said. 

"Because there was no accountability for students last year — if you did the work fine, if you didn't do the work, fine — but you all got the same grade basically."

"Those gaps in learning are going to be so significant going into this year that most of this year will be a repeat of content from last year. Our system always defaults to the lowest common denominator."

Connie Keating, president, New Brunswick Teachers' Association 

Connie Keating, the president of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, said the province hasn't asked teachers for their input, even though they are the frontline workers who've had their boots on the ground the past 18 months. 

"At this point, we have no idea what the plan is," said Keating, who is co-president of the New Brunswick Teachers' Federation. "And we're just a few short weeks away."

Teachers are required to be in the schools on the last Monday of August, she said. 

Administrators are due to go back on Aug. 24, and Keating says they still don't know what rules will carry over, if any. 

When asked if high school students would be back in school full time, Keating said that was still just an assumption. 

"When the school year ended, we were told it would probably be a normal school year or as normal as it could be," she said. "So we're expecting that all students will be back in the schools. However, we have not received any firm confirmation from the department yet."

Keating also said teachers are expecting to work again with the "prioritized curriculum" that was devised as a result of the pandemic. 

"Minister Cardy noted in comments he made at the end of the year that every effort will be made to remedy the gaps and provide the supports that are needed," said Keating. "I would hope that wouldn't just be for the academic gaps but certainly for the exceptional mental health concerns we're expecting."

Paul Bennett, director, Schoolhouse Institute, adjunct professor of education, Saint Mary's University

Paul Bennett says New Brunswick needs to be held accountable for what has happened in its schools and that can only be measured through standardized achievement testing. 

"Kids were out of school a lot," he said. "In the case of New Brunswick, experiments were undertaken on a massive scale with hybrid learning. This was an experiment of giant proportions and we don't know the full impact yet."

Bennett said there should be an audit of how student marks were generated, especially marks that don't seem to square with absentee rates as high as 25 per cent. 

The Anglophone South School District says several provincial assessments were conducted in the past school year, but results won't be known until mid-fall. 

Meanwhile, the district said, it will not compare last year's grades to this year's grades because school was cancelled for two weeks in March 2020 with the onset of the pandemic and because final marks were awarded differently as a result. 

Some students could opt to complete work in some courses or accept a designation of simply "enrolled." 

The district did release a comparison of marks from the year before the pandemic and last June, indicating nearly no change.

"Looking at grade averages tells you nothing," said Bennett. "What it tells you is that there is grade inflation.

"One of the interesting things you'll find in education is that as long as parents are happy and kids get the marks they require to be admitted to the next level, you don't hear much about it."

Bennett said grade inflation is a school system survival strategy. 

"They basically say as long as we give the kids marks comparable to what they would have had under normal circumstances, then little will be said and no one will bother to investigate."

The education minister should be asking for more research, Bennett  said. 

"New Brunswick made an interesting decision last year to go to hybrid learning in the secondary schools about a month before anyone else. That was the current thinking in June of last year but everyone else bailed and decided they'd send everybody back to school with adjustments. Not New Brunswick. Your plan was so firm, and the minister was so clear that he wanted to embark on this, there was no turning back.

"So now what we need is more data and we're sadly lacking in evidence."

Maggie Melvin, graduate of Sussex Regional High School

Last winter, Maggie Melvin made a documentary about the social and emotional impact of doing senior year under covid-related restrictions. 

"It sucked," was her verdict then and it hasn't changed now.

The final months of the school year ended with many students mentally checking out and giving up, she said.

"I think it drastically changed how people put their time and energy into their studying," she said. "Homework really wasn't being done because people were so emotionally drained they just did not and could not put their energy into their schoolwork."

Melvin said her grades dropped about 10 per cent by the end of her second semester. 

"I was just ready for school to be over. I just wanted out of there instead of trying to do my best. I was just like, 'good is good enough.'"

She said the experience turned her off the idea of going to university. She plans to take a makeup course in Halifax. 

When asked if she could identify exactly when she lost her motivation, Melvin said it happened in the spring.

That's when the province reneged on its promise to send high school students back to classes full time on April 12. 

"Everyone was so angry," said Melvin. 

Melvin hopes students coming up behind her won't lose out on making all the memories she wanted to have. 

"People are at such a unique time in their lives. They're trying to figure themselves out, who they are, and where they need to go. I think it would help a lot if there was just some normalcy instead of being separated from your friends and having to be at home online."