Hamilton public school registration deadline extended

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has extended the deadline for parents and guardians to register their children for in-person or online learning as families struggle to use the board's Parent Portal application.

This marks the second time that the board has delayed its deadline as a result of technical difficulties.

The new deadline is Thursday, Aug. 27, at midnight.

Previously, the board had said that all parents and guardians needed to indicate their child's enrolment decision by Aug. 21. It was then pushed to Aug. 25.

Dozens of parents have spoken out about difficulties using the board's problem-plagued application.

In social media groups, parents have lamented glitches, errors and faulty technology that has prevented them from registering their children with a looming deadline.

Jodi-Anne Ralston, whose daughter attends elementary school, told the Spectator that the portal's registration page wouldn't allow her to indicate her relationship to her child - a requirement for registration.

I tried this on my phone, then on my desktop. Didn't work. I tried a few times on Monday as well as yesterday and had the same issues," Ralston said.

Ralston said she emailed the HWDSB's tech support but didn't receive a reply.

On social media, the board has attempted to offer technical support, but acknowledged that there may be data entry errors due to high volume on our site."

At Monday's board meeting, Peter Sovran, associate director of learning services at the HWDSB, said the board was looking into alternatives to the registration system.

The registration delay means the board will have to wait to know how many students will be attending schools in-person versus online.

The board currently predicts that up to 20 per cent of students may enrol online, but the numbers won't be confirmed until after the registrations are complete.

The numbers will help inform the school board on reducing class sizes, and whether class sizes will be lower than anticipated.

On Monday, trustees approved a $10.4-million plan to reduce class sizes in its elementary schools to roughly 22 students per class in kindergarten and 24 students per class for Grade 4 to 8.

The plan, which is subject to approval from Ontario's Ministry of Education, would fund 56 new teachers and 47 new classrooms for kindergarten students, as well as 36 new teachers and 30 new classrooms from Grade 4 to 8.

The plan assumes that all students will re-enrol for in-person classes, meaning that the class sizes may be lower depending on actual student enrolment numbers.

The board has decided to dip into its reserve fund, a fund typically designated for emergencies, to help pay for the reduced class sizes.

Manny Figueiredo, the HWDSB's director of education, told trustees that the ministry declined the board's request for $43 million and offered $933,505 instead, as part of a provincewide grant of $30 million for reducing class sizes.

At a news conference held on Tuesday, Alex Johnstone, chair of the HWDSB, said the board will spend up to $9 million from its reserve fund assuming it receives an approval from the Ministry of Education.

Reserve funds are typically saved for rainy days, and I can definitively tell you now that the flood has arrived," Johnstone said.

Jacob Lorinc's reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about education.