Toronto school board moves hundreds of elementary teachers to online classes

TORONTO — Canada’s largest school district is moving hundreds of elementary school teachers from in-person to online classes.

The Toronto District School Board says the changes, which take effect next week, are meant to balance out the ratio of students to teachers across the system.

The board says there are about 63,000 students taking part in online classes — more than anticipated — and some have yet to be assigned a teacher.

Meanwhile, some schools have too many teachers for the number of students.

The board says the majority of elementary schools will not see significant changes, but a handful will lose more than four teachers.

The board says parents whose children are directly affected by the change will be contacted this week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2020.

The Canadian Press