NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Tuesday students, parents and teachers are frustrated, concerned and confused.
Horwath questioned Education Minister Stephen Lecce Tuesday about whether the school spring break in April will go ahead.
Lecce replied they will respect their earlier decision to hold the March break in April.
"We now deal with the variants of concern. We have to respond to this risk. I think parents expect us to make the tough decisions when appropriate. But when it comes to April break, we plan to proceed," he said.
"We've continued follow the Chief Medical Officer of Health's advice. We're building a plan, and will be announcing in the coming days to further strengthen the safety of children and staff following their reentrance following the April break. We're committed to expanding testing, as well as stronger screen protocols before a student and a potential case enters a school," he added.
Horwath said all parents want is to ensure their kids are protected.
She continued, "Safe classes and a stable learning environment, Instead we saw massive cuts in last week's budget, massive cuts, We've seen a government that would prefer to pull resources from classrooms instead of invest in the stability of our kids."
Lecce responded, "The budget allocated last week an additional $700 million, the largest summer learning program in Ontario history, $105 million specifically focused on mitigating learning loss. We have increased mental health supports by more than 200% higher than the peak of liberal spending when the former premier was in power. We are fully committed to the safety of schools."
He added "Roughly 99 per cent of schools are open, 99 per cent of students have no active case, 75 per cent of schools don't have one case at all."
