Ontario school fundraising, extracurriculars hit hard by COVID-19, report finds

COVID-19 has drastically curtailed fundraising in Ontario schools, with money raised over the past year most likely to be used to help families with food or other needs during the pandemic, a new report has found.

Research and advocacy group People for Education, in a survey of schools to be released Monday, looked at the impact the pandemic has had on fundraising and extracurricular activities across the province, because we want to understand what has happened in the education system over the last year," said executive director Annie Kidder.

Fundraising amounts were much lower in 2020-21 than the year prior, with high-income" elementary schools bringing in $15,197 on average, compared to $21,260 in 2019-20, the report says.

In low-income elementary schools, fundraising dropped to an average of $6,978 in 2020-21, from $10,872 in 2019-20.

The average amounts were much less than they were last year, and definitely there was still a very big difference between schools in high-income areas and schools in low-income areas," Kidder told the Star.

While money continues to be used to purchase technology, many schools were reporting that they were fundraising basically to support the families in their communities," she said. They were fundraising for food and food banks, trying to make sure that their families' essential needs were covered.

She noted that in the past, quite a lot of fundraising has gone to extracurricular activities," which were scaled back or non-existent in some schools in the past year, given the challenges of COVID-19.

Kidder said concerns were raised that parents in more affluent areas might fundraise for ventilation system improvements or HEPA filters for classrooms, which could exacerbate inequities in the system, but we didn't get a lot of responses saying they were fundraising for things directly to do with school safety."

As for extracurricular activities, they are often thought of as frills," Kidder said, but when we looked at the research about the kinds of skills and competencies they build - even though it's totally understandable that they disappeared in the pandemic - we need to think of the impact that has had on kids.

For some families, they are able to provide some of this so-called enrichment through their home. But, for many kids, schools are the only place that they get this."

In a typical year, more than 90 per cent of schools report clubs and sports for students.

However, more than 60 per cent of elementary schools offered no clubs at all in 2020-21, and in secondary schools, the club offerings dropped by more than half compared to pre-COVID-19," the survey found.

One principal called it difficult and sad that we have no special events, assemblies, sports, clubs, guest speakers or field trips to offer this year. These are the activities that make school fun and meaningful for the students. Having virtual school assemblies, for example, are a poor substitute for connecting the whole school community and encouraging school spirit. This year feels hollow and disconnected."

The issue left another Ontario principal who took part in the survey questioning how this experience/opportunity gap" can be addressed after the pandemic.

We were not surprised," Kidder said. We are not faulting anyone for extracurriculars falling by the wayside - it would have been very difficult to keep them going.

However, she added, the numbers are startling between this year and last."

Kidder said that for now, the province will need to focus on planning for the upcoming year, looking at not only the learning gaps that have arisen because of COVID-19, but also students' mental health and wellness, and extracurriculars have to be a part of that thinking as well."

People for Education, along with education unions, has been calling on the provincial government to convene an education task force to tackle these issues before school starts in the fall.

The group's survey was based on reports from 1,173 schools across the province, with 906 of them offering in-person learning, 226 a mix of in-person and online learning, and 41 online-only classes.

Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy