Ontario to release full back-to-school plan for in-person learning in July
Ontario will be releasing their fall school plans in July, according to the province’s education minister.
Stephen Lecce made the comment Thursday afternoon, saying the final guidance on COVID-19 regarding in-person learning will come from the chief medical officer of health.
“With respect to the final guidance, I've always said the chief medical officer of health, in July, is going to make an assessment of our COVID vaccine rates for students and staff, as well as the broader public health indicators, where the COVID case numbers are, and the trajectory we're on. That was the plan for last year, it's what we're doing this year,” he said.
Lecce said that he has spoken with the current Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams, as well as Dr. Kieran Moore who will be taking over the role, and they both reaffirmed the July timeline.
“They believe in July, we'll be able to provide that final guidance with the aim of a more normal, more positive, and more interactive school experience for children that is fully in class, where we believe children belong.”
Some Ontario school boards have already released a partial plan for September that would see the “quadmester" system for high schoolers come to an end.
The Toronto District School Board and Halton District School Board have told parents there will be a modified cohorting system in which students take four courses and alternate between what two classes they have each week.
Lecce added that his government approves the modified cohorting plan for the fall.
“But let's be clear, the approval of that plan is always predicated on the chief medical officer of health office giving us the green light,” he said.
For the 2020-2021 school year, high school students took two courses at a time for about nine weeks, with a mix of in-person and online learning. The government has previously said that remote learning will remain an option for the next school year.
The back-to-school comments were made following an announcement of a “new four-year-strategy to recruit, train and retain more French teachers.”
Lecce said that the government expects the demand for French-language teachers to grow over the next five years.
The strategy will involve a $12.5 million investment.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.