Local students will be heading back to school on Sept. 7 following a decision by Premier Doug Ford last week to open up elementary and high schools province-wide.

Elementary and intermediate students, up to Grade 8, will be able to go back to school full-time, while high school students will only attend classes on alternating days and in classes limited to just 15 students, presumably to allow for social distancing while sitting at their desks. The remaining 50 per cent of their time will be spent working on assignments online.

According to the Ministry of Education guidelines, high school students “would be assigned curriculum-linked independent work on remote learning days and, where possible, would participate in synchronous learning with their teacher and classmates for a period of each school day.”

Both elementary and high school students will have to learn in separate cohorts, meaning they will be studying all their subjects in the same classroom.

Students with a high level of special education needs may need daily attendance and instruction. The Ministry of Education will liaise with designated school boards in support of this goal and will review and approve requests by local school boards to open small or specialized secondary schools or programs with full time attendance.

Non-medical masks will be mandatory for students in Grade 4 to Grade 12, while students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 will be encouraged, but not required, to wear them.
Medical masks will be provided for teachers and all other school staff.

According to the protocols being implemented by the province, all staff and students will be expected to self-screen every day before attending school. School boards will also be required to provide parents with a checklist to perform daily screening of their children before arriving at school.

All staff and students experiencing new or worsening symptoms consistent with COVID-19 must not attend school and should seek appropriate medical attention as required, including getting tested at a COVID-19 testing centre.

The Ministry is presently working with public health officials to ensure an adequate supply of public health nurses to assist schools across the province, including assistance with screening of potential COVID-19 cases.

News of the province’s plans was met with a predictable reaction. Parents are worried about sending their children back to school, regardless of the protocols being put in place by the Ministry of Education, and teachers are upset about being forced to work in an unsafe environment, possibly contracting the COVID-19 virus and bring-ing it home to their loved ones.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) came out with a statement within minutes of the Premier Ford’s announcement.

“Schools are supposed to be safe places for children. This plan does not adequately address the safety of students or staff,” said ETFO president Sam Hammond. “Restaurants, grocery stores and gyms will have more safety restrictions in place than elementary schools given the insufficient funding allocated in this plan.”

The ETFO is especially concerned that the government is not reducing elementary class sizes to allow for two-metre physical distancing, nor requiring students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 to wear masks.

Their concerns are shared by many parents like Orléans resident Sheryne Morcos who has four children age 3, 4, 12 and 13. She also has a full-time career, as does her spouse.

“I really have to think about,” said Morcos who is questioning whether or not to send her kids to school on Sept. 7 or wait to see how things play out. “I’m a mom of four who is, like other moms, carrying the mental, morale, emotional and logistical burden of this whole thing.

“We have no idea what the effects of this virus is on kids. Yes, the numbers are low for the younger kids, but that may just be due to the fact that these little ones have been bubbled since March. We don’t know how they’ll react once exposed in large group settings.”

Province have been given the option of sending their kids to school or keeping them at home.

To that end, remote learning options will be available for all students on a full-time enhanced distant/remote learning basis with access to learning materials posted online.
For more information about the province’s school opening plans visit ontario.ca/page/guide-reopening-ontarios-schools.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)