Schools reopening in September across the province
Tim Brody - Editor
The Ontario government released its plan to restart school in September on July 30.
Elementary schools (Kindergarten to Grade 8) will reopen with in-class instruction five days a week.
Students from Grades 4-12 and school staff will be required to wear masks.
The use of masks is optional for students in Kindergarten to Grade 3, and according the provincial government, “will be entirely at the discretion of parents.”
The province also shared, “Exceptions to this policy — for both staff and students — will be permitted for individuals for whom using a mask conflicts with a pre-existing condition, such as asthma. These determinations will be made in consultation between school principals, parents, and school boards. When students are outside, such as during recess, the use of masks will not be required so long as physical distancing can be maintained.”
Secondary schools (Grades 9-12) in school boards designated by the Ontario government will reopen using an adapted model. Secondary schools in non-designated school boards, which include the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board and Northwest Catholic District School Board, will reopen with a normal five day schedule.
According to the provincial government, parents will continue to have the option to have their children attend school remotely.
With regards to class sizes, the provincial government informed, “Students in elementary school will remain in a single cohort during the day, which is easily facilitated by the homeroom nature of instruction. In secondary school, cohorts will be preserved by boards employing timetabling strategies to cohort students, such as through a 'quadmester' model. At any given time, the size of a student's cohort will be limited to approximately 50 in elementary and 100 direct or indirect contacts in secondary schools, which for many students allows for significantly-reduced congregate exposure, and facilitates contact tracing.”
Physical distancing measures will be supplemented with other health measures such as, “self-screening, cohorting, hand hygiene, enhanced cleaning and masking.”
Other health and safety practices and protocols the government laid out include:
•Self-screening of students and staff before they enter school or a school bus;
•Hand hygiene practices and education for students;
•Medical masks for teachers and staff, which are provided by the government through school boards;
•Cohorting to reduce transmissibility and allow effective contact tracing;
•Enhanced cleaning and disinfecting of school facilities and busses, with significant additional investment in staffing and supplies;
•Restrictions on visitors, to limit the number of individuals in a school setting and preserve cohorting; and
•Pre-registration to aid in controlled reopening and enable boards to plan for an effective and calculated reopening in September or earlier.
In a letter sent home to KPDSB families on July 30, Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) Director of Education Sherri-Lynne Pharand advised the school board would be providing additional details specific to its schools in the coming weeks.
“We want to remind families that attending school in-person is voluntary. For students not attending in-person, remote/distance learning will be available, however, families should be aware that once they have selected remote instruction, should they wish to switch to in-person at a later date, they won’t be able to do so until predetermined dates throughout the school year,” the letter informed.
Parents were advised to watch for a survey this week to indicate if their child will be attending in-person, or remotely in September.
With respect to its elementary schools, Pharand’s letter stated that enhanced health and safety protocols will be in place. She also informed through her letter that “Class sizes will not be reduced, however, students will remain with their classes and teacher(s) (also referred to as a cohort) all day with staggered lunches and recesses to ensure students interact with their teacher(s) and classmates only.”
With respect to its secondary schools Pharand’s letter states, “The government has announced all secondary schools in Ontario have been divided into two groups, designated and non-designated. Our school board has been placed into the non-designated group, which means our secondary schools will open with in-person conventional delivery, but with cohort limitations and with enhanced health and safety protocols as outlined below under public health protocols.”
She added, “All school boards are expected to adopt timetabling methods that emphasize cohorting of students, particularly at the secondary level, as much as possible to limit the number of direct and indirect student-to-student contacts. Efforts to cohort secondary school students may impact the traditional four course delivery model in a semestered school.”
She further shared, “There are different models available to support timetabling students in secondary schools to limit indirect and direct student contacts. As a Board, we will be discussing our proposed model with the Ministry of Education next week and will share additional information with secondary families following that meeting.”
Enhanced Public Health Protocols for all KPDSB schools will include:
•Masks – Non-medical masks will be mandatory for all students in grades 4-12. Non-medical masks are not required but are encouraged for students in Kindergarten to Grade 3. Students may wear their own non-medical masks, and non-medical masks will also be made available for students through their school. Reasonable exceptions on the requirement to wear masks will apply.
•Physical Distancing – Physical distancing will be in place wherever possible inside of schools/offices.
•Hand Washing/Sanitizing - Hand sanitizing stations will be available throughout our schools and offices. School staff will support students in ensuring proper hand washing is occurring frequently.
•Cleaning and Disinfecting - Heightened cleaning practices will be in place in all schools and offices. Schools will have custodial staff in the building and available to support frequent cleaning and sanitizing throughout the school day.
•Shared spaces - Shared spaces like gymnasiums and cafeterias will remain open to students. Shared items will be sanitized before being used again.
•School Bus Transportation – Enhanced cleaning and use of personal protective equipment will be in place for drivers, as well as students (non-medical masks required for students in grades 4-12 and encouraged for students in Kindergarten to Grade 3). Students will have assigned seats. Active forms of travel (for example, walking and cycling) and private transportation by parents and caregivers, are encouraged where possible, to ease pressure on transportation demands.
Students attending Northwest Catholic District School Board and Keewatin-Patricia District School Board schools head back on class on September 3.