August 2021 letter to families enrolled at the Heritage Christian Online School based in Kelowna.
Changes to Distributed Learning in 2022/2023
Hello HCOS families,
What a year we have just been through – a funding cut and a pandemic! These were quite the challenges, but this also became a year of unbelievable blessing, as we welcomed new members to our community who have found their school home in HCOS and are seeing their children flourish. Our community has been amazing over the past year, pulling together to write letters, reaching out to the media, donating to Forward Together to support our fellow home educators, and truly caring for one another – thank you all for your grace, understanding, and support!
Bill 8 and Changes to Distributed Learning
We would love to say that the year ahead will be more peaceful and that we can all take a breath and just enjoy home educating; however, distributed learning is facing additional challenges due to Bill 8 that was passed last March by the BC government. It has been challenging to unpack what the ramifications of Bill 8 will be for distributed learning (now called online learning); however as the Ministry of Education has begun to communicate the implications of the new legislation, it is clear that there will be significant potential challenges for all online schools in the province.
The supporting policy, procedures, and structures for the changes are not complete and have not been disclosed to online schools, making it difficult to understand all of the implications. This has led to the creation of an interim policy and a one-year interim online learning agreement for the 2021/2022 school year that looks very similar to past years. The true changes will come in the 2022/2023 school year.
Below we detail some of the key changes coming in 2022/2023 and what you can do to advocate for educational choice. We will also host two online Community Q&A sessions to help answer questions you may have on:
• Tuesday, September 14 at 2:00 pm
• Tuesday, September 14 at 7:00 pm
Potential Ramifications
The Ministry of Education has produced a webpage outlining the new online learning model which we would encourage you to become familiar with. We have created a list of what some of the potential changes may be and what the potential ramifications of those changes could be for our community, and indeed all online students.
| Change | Potential Ramifications | What We Are Doing |
|---|---|---|
| Name change from Distributed Learning to Online Learning | In theory, none, as the definition indicates online learning as education delivered primarily through online means, which DL schools already do. There is some lack of clarity around the potential impact on face to face instruction but as long as it is not the majority of the program, there should be no impact. | Advocating to the government via various committees to ensure face to face and traditional individualized educational options are included and protected under this new terminology. So far the response has been that the intent is not to negatively impact those things and the Ministry’s website indicates that some online schools do offer in-person learning opportunities. |
| All brick & mortar schools will now be allowed to offer online learning programs. | Increased competition for online schools from brick and mortar schools that are inexperienced in delivering online programming. This could potentially lead to poor quality programming which will hurt the overall reputation of online schools. | Increased competition for online schools from brick and mortar schools that are inexperienced in delivering online programming. This could potentially lead to poor quality programming which will hurt the overall reputation of online schools. |
| New Provincial Online Schools | Having only a handful of online schools that are able to serve students anywhere in the province brings drastically decreased options, flexibility, and important nuances that make all the current choices so great. Instead, there will be only a few massive schools that must all use the same mandated Learning Management System and share course content. | We are working hard to advocate that Independent DL Schools, which already function as Provincial Online Schools, all continue to operate as they have been and retain the autonomy over our Learning Management System, curriculum, and enrollment that the Independent School Act affords them. |
| Students will only be allowed to register or enroll in online schools in their geographic district unless the school they choose is a designated Provincial Online School. | If HCOS is not successful in becoming an approved Provincial Online School, only 500 out of our 7000 students would be allowed to enroll at HCOS. Students who have been receiving excellent programming may be forced to change schools. The potential for loss of learning through the disruption of a student’s program is substantial. HCOS serves many students with diverse learning needs and stable programming is key for these students to continue to see academic success. | HCOS has a representative on the Provincial Online School working committee, along with two other Independent DL representatives. We are advocating that limiting student choice in this way will have a significant negative impact on students and families, and that HCOS and the other Independent DL Schools should be able to continue operating as they have by serving students anywhere in the province. |
What Can You Do?
How can you help preserve your right to choose the school and program that is the best fit for your family?
1. Become informed. Familiarize yourself with the changes highlighted on the Ministry of Education’s webpage.
2. Give feedback directly to the Ministry of Education officials responsible for online learning through EDUC.OLFeedback@gov.bc.ca. These recommendations came out of a committee that only studied public online schools, yet independent online schools have been included in the resulting changes. The claim that these changes will improve the quality of online learning and improve equity for students is simply not true. HCOS receives numerous commendations every year for the quality of our programming, and the development of personal student learning plans for every learner ensures equity for all HCOS students.
3. Write to your local MLA and let them know that as a constituent your right to educational choice must be preserved, not limited. CC the Minister of Education, EDUC.Minister@gov.bc.ca and the Opposition Education Critic, jackie.tegart.mla@leg.bc.ca.
4. Be persistent. Follow up and request personalized answers to your concerns and questions. You have a high quality, equitable program for your child that you would like protected.
What should you include in your communications?
1. A concise personal statement of why your family has chosen online learning. Particularly speak to why you chose an independent school instead of your local public online school.
2. The ramifications for your child if they could not choose HCOS as the school that will help ensure their success.
3. Ask for a timely, personal response and their commitment to preserving the right of parents to choose their child’s school.
Remember to keep your communication brief, one page max, use bullets, and ensure your main points are stated clearly and respectfully.
It is unfortunate that we find ourselves again in a position of having to fight for our educational rights and freedoms; however, this is a very important battle to preserve parental rights and educational choice for our children. Please join us in ensuring our student’s needs are being met through the provision of online learning at HCOS.
Sincerely,
Sara Kraushar & Craig Kwiatkowski
Heads of School
Back to School Letters