While it may have seemed like short notice, local school boards have been preparing to get kids back in class all along.
On Wednesday night, the Ministry of Education announced students across Simcoe-Muskoka would be heading back to classrooms on Monday.
Local school boards are delighted to greet some students again in class.
“We’ve been preparing since the school closures to return to in-person so we were ready and we’re very happy to have students back on Monday,” said Dawn Stephens, superintendent of education for the Simcoe County District School Board.
There are two main health and safety changes students and families will see Monday.
Masks will now be mandatory for students from junior kindergarten all the way up to Grade 12, as is the advice for all schools from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.
Students who are outdoors will also be wearing masks when they can’t physically distance.
“We’re going to be encouraging teachers to take their students outside – not during recess time – so students can remove their masks. We’re recognizing this is going to be a change for our students,” said Stephens.
The second change will be self-assessments will now need to be confirmed at the beginning of every school day for all high school students and staff.
“The public health units... are really wanting to put that back at the forefront of everyone’s mind,” said Stephens, adding that students will be reporting during attendance.
In a letter sent home to families Wednesday night, the Catholic board noted that similar changes to protocol would be taking place at its schools.
In regards to asymptomatic testing that was promised by the Ministry of Education, Dr. Lisa Simon, associate medical officer of health, told BarrieToday the health unit will be ready should the testing be necessary. Otherwise, families who are advised to seek testing would do so through their local assessment centre should it be necessary.
“This service is being made available to support schools experiencing outbreaks, schools with high case counts and/or a high level of community transmission. Local public health units like the (Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit), working with local school boards, will determine whether and when this testing is needed,” said Simon.
When asked about what specific circumstances would warrant asymptomatic testing in a school, Stephens said the public board didn’t have any information yet on the practice.
“At this point, we’re waiting to hear back from the health unit on asymptomatic testing,” she said.
When asked whether additional protocols were being put in place in Simcoe-Muskoka schools to address the emergence of COVID-19 variants in the community, Simon referred back to the school protective measures announced by the province on Jan. 12.
COVID-19 variants were not confirmed in Simcoe County until Jan. 20.
Stephens said school boards will be taking all health advice concerning variants from the health unit.
“The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is supportive of our return to school. They are the experts on all things COVID, including variants,” said Stephens.
Previous to the lockdown, secondary students at the public board were slated to start hybrid learning on Feb. 4. Now, those students will be starting fresh on Monday in that model.
Stephens says high schools will be doing a staggered start next week in preparation. Remote students will learn asynchronously on Feb. 8, with synchronous learning starting Feb. 9.
“We want to go through all the protocols and reminders with hand hygiene, mask wearing, and not congregating on the first day (with in-class students),” she said. “On Tuesday, all students will be learning together in the hybrid model.”
While the public board has fielded requests from parents wanting to switch their children from in-person learning to remote learning models after the announcement, they said they are not allowing switching at this time, however parents can choose to have their child who is registered for in-class learning do an asynchronous option.
“Unfortunately, we have so many kids but only so many classes, so students can learn asynchronously through their teacher’s virtual classroom,” said Stephens.
Families with the Catholic board who want to switch modes can apply to be put on a wait list if a spot opens up. Parents or guardians are advised to contact their child's school principal to be added to a wait list.
