Students travel hours, stay in hotels to get to Ontario school for the blind as residences remain shut

Stephanie Antone has been travelling six hours a day just so her daughter can attend school in person.

Patricia Hung has spent thousands to stay in a hotel, swapping weeks on and off with her husband, to make sure their child can be in class.

And yet, they consider themselves some of the lucky ones.

The children of both parents attend W. Ross Macdonald, a Brantford school for blind, visually impaired and deaf-blind students that's the only one of its kind in Ontario. Of the about 150 students from kindergarten through Grade 12, over half lodge there during the week and may return home on the weekends.

But the residence portion of the school has been shut down by the Ontario Ministry of Education since Christmas out of concern around the Omicron variant and a surge in COVID-19 cases. That's left students and their loves ones scrambling to learn from home — where they may face barriers and fewer supports — or to find a way to get to the school.

"As you can imagine, [for] someone with a visual impairment, it's very difficult for them to learn online," said Hung, whose daughter Elena is in Grade 7 at W. Ross Macdonald and has low vision.

The family lives in Toronto, but moved into a hotel from Monday to Friday to ensure Elena can get to in-person classes.

Hung said staying at the hotel has become a "hardship," both financially and for her four other school-aged kids, but she considers herself fortunate, as some families may not be able to manage living away from home, especially if they're from longer distances such as Thunder Bay and Sudbury.

Still, "I don't know if we can do another month," said Hung. "It's very difficult."

Antone and her 11-year-old daughter Yehati managed to cobble together a carpool that requires them to travel from Oneida Nation of the Thames to Brantford and back again, twice a day.

"It's a six-hour day driving, just for her to be in-person learning. It's not sustainable," said Antone.

"At least I'm coming to school," said Yehati, a Grade 6 student who also has low vision.

"I'm hoping that lodging will get opened up again because a lot of the deaf-blind and completely blind students need more support."

CBC News emailed W. Ross Macdonald's principal for comment on the closing of the lodging, but was told to direct questions to the Ministry of Eduction.