School is back in September: final details to be determined

Aug 05, 2020

School aged children who attend public and catholic schools in Frontenac County and Addington Highlands will have the opportunity to attend school on a full time basis starting this coming September. The students are aware that the now familiar social distancing protocols will make the school experience awkward, including masks, except in younger grades. School will also be less interactive, less physical and less fun.

But they will be able to see their friends and will also be able to get out of the house and follow a more or less normal routine after what will have been almost 6 months of social isolation.

The Province of Ontario opened up the province to commercial activity more quickly in less COVID-19 impacted regions than in places where the virus was more prevalent. They are following the same path with school openings, and in Eastern Ontario that means more in class time than in other parts of the province.

As has become its practice over the last two months, provincial announcements about changes tend to be shy on fine details, leaving them to be filled in by local agencies. In this case it will be the local health units and school boards who will bring the more general provincial principles to life.

On the provincial government website, Ontario.ca, the government described the elementary school opening in this way: “Elementary school children will attend school 5 days per week. Students will be in cohorts, which means they will be with the same group of children throughout their school day, with limited exposure to multiple teachers or a wide variety of classmates.”The described secondary school re-opening for areas like rural Eastern Ontario in this way: “Secondary schools in non-designated school boards will be permitted to open with conventional delivery. Secondary schools in these boards typically have fewer students, fewer schools and smaller high schools.”

They also made it clear that the decision to attend school in person, or not, rests with the families of the students: “For both elementary and secondary students, in-person school attendance will be optional for the 2020-2021 school year to ensure parents can make decisions that work for their children and family. School boards will offer remote learning for all students who choose this option.”

Families who choose to send their children to school will be expected to screen their children each day for COVID-19 symptoms before sending them to school each day. Mask wearing will be mandatory inside school buildings for students in grades 4 and higher, and encouraged for younger students, and hand-washing will be taught and reinforced within the school environment.

“Schools will significantly limit or even prohibit visitors, including parents,” the site also says.

The Kingston Frontenac, Lennox and Addington and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health Units, quickly endorsed the provincial plan when it came out last week and committed to “supporting a safe return to school.”

“HPEPH, KFL&A Public Health, and local school boards recognize that kids, parents, caregivers, and staff may have concerns about returning to school during the COVID-19 pandemic. The community can be reassured that there are existing processes in place to respond to any cases or outbreaks of infectious disease in the school environment, and that public health and education partners are working together to implement many additional protocols to reduce the potential spread of illness among students.”

Krishna Burra, the incoming Director of Education for the Limestone District School Board, said, in a release on the same day that the provincial plan was announced, that the board will work with public health as they finalise their return to school plan.

Burra also told parents that it will take some time for the final plan to emerge.

“As always, our plans are based on the advice, guidance and directives of provincial and local public health officials, and in consultation with community, education, and labour partners. It is important to note that a safe school reopening is contingent on limiting community spread of COVID-19. If circumstances change, and we experience an increase in regional cases across KFL&A, we may need to adjust our model. We encourage everyone to follow public health guidelines and remain vigilant in helping to keep our communities safe.

We are working as quickly and diligently as we can to complete our planning so that you, too, can make plans that are best suited to your individual circumstances, and ensure as smooth a transition as possible for everyone. We know you still have many questions, and we will do our best to answer these in the coming days and weeks. We are committed to sharing more information and expectations as soon as we can. We appreciate your ongoing patience and support.”