Craig MacDonald’s classroom at Richard Pfaff Alternative School has had a poor student turnout due to the transit strike.
Nearly three-quarters of the students at Richard Pfaff Secondary Alternate School have been unable to attend school because of the transit strike, leaving students stranded.
“Seventy-five to 80 per cent of our students rely on OC Transpo,” says Tom Benke, the school’s vice-principal. “Today, of 250 students we can account for 60.”
The Richard Pfaff Program offers a second chance for students who have not been successful in the mainstream schooling system. The program gives students the opportunity to earn the credits they need to get their high school diploma. Students work at their own pace while the teacher acts as a facilitator and motivator.
Due to the strike, which officially ended Jan. 29 but continues to affect most bus routes, few students have been able to attend school.
“We’re downtown, so we draw from an area that follows the main bus lines,” explains Benke,"We're drawing kids from the west side of Orleans, to Nepean, to South Bank Street."
“The decisions they made were based on what was the easiest and fastest bus to get here,” he says. “Without it they are kind of stuck.”
Benke says its also difficult to keep students motivated.
“They need to be in an atmosphere where they can do their work, and school was that atmosphere for them.”
In an attempt to increase motivation, the school created a method for students to submit their work.
“Any work that they can’t get to us, they can always go to an elementary school in their area and get them to send it to us,” says Benke. “We can mark it, and they’ve got that much more done.” He adds that teachers can also send material to the students the same way.
Sharlene Hunter, a communications officer at the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, says the most important thing to do in this situation is to communicate with one another.
“Students need to call their principals and develop an action plan for themselves,” she says.
“Staff has been told to call them as often as they can,” says Benke. “They are not the easiest people to maintain contact with, they are very easily distracted.” Benke is worried that some students may not be motivated enough to come back once the transit disruptions caused by the strike are over.
“We know it’s going to take a lot of calls,” he says. “Most of them will come back. There will be a few that we’re going lose. Eventually even they will come back."