The province's education minister held a press conference today that many parents hoped would offer some clarity.
Instead, Stephen Lecce touted investments the province has made in schools to help battle the pandemic and how new funding from the federal government will be spent.
The majority of the $380 million will go towards health and safety funding, summer learning supports, and online learning.
Additional measures Lecce addressed today include:
- Targeted asymptomatic testing for students and staff, using PCR and rapid antigen tests.
- Mandatory masks for students in Grades 1 to 3 (this includes outdoor time where physical distancing is not possible).
- Enhanced screening of high school students and staff.
- New rules that discourage students from gathering before and after school.
- Increased staffing through temporarily certifying teacher candidates who are eligible to graduate in 2021.
Minister Lecce was asked pointedly if schools in the remaining hot zones will reopen as February 10th, as previously scheduled, and he couldn't give a yes or no answer. "I think we've been consistent that we want to get all students in all regions of our province back to school, that is a consensus position of our government with the medical community. We heard clearly from the Council of Medical Officers of Health and we agree with the premise. It is important for children to be within schools for their mental health and their development. We are looking forward to advice from the chief medical officer of health and the medical community about how we can get all students back. We know parents want certainty on the matter and we hope we can provide them, in the coming days, based on risk assessment and, more importantly, based on the new protocols, the stronger and stricter protocols put in place to make sure when we reopen all kids can be safe in this province."
Ontario's CMOH Dr. David Williams says he is hopeful the goal of February 10th can be met. "There are two things we want to do. One, are the community transmission rates coming down and going in the right direction, the answer is yes. The next thing is, do we have enough systems in place that we didn't have in the fall for further testing and Minister Lecce has alluded to that with the so-called targeted testing."
Dr. Williams says local public health units will also get a say on whether schools in their regions will reopen on February 10th.
An announcement in the coming days is promised.