Now that school boards have been cleared to reopen, Windsor-Essex's two English-language boards have announced their plans.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced Wednesday that all school boards, with the exception of Toronto, York Region, and Peel Region, can resume in-person classes on Monday. The remaining three regions will reopen Tuesday, February 16.
With that, the Greater Essex Catholic District School Board announced that strict safety measures will be put in place to keep the spread of COVID-19 from affecting its buildings.
"All students in grades one through 12 must wear masks in class and in the hallways. They must also wear masks when outside, unless physical distancing of two metres can be maintained," said public board spokesman Scott Scantlebury in a media release. "We are encouraging students in junior and senior kindergarten classes to wear masks as well."
Students who use the buses are also required to wear a face covering. Secondary students and staff must complete a daily assessment before attending classes, with the link accessible via the public board's website.
Meanwhile, at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, students will basically pick up where they left off before the Christmas holidays.
"Students in the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board will return to the previous mode of learning they were in prior to the suspension of face to face learning," read a post on the board's website. "Those students who are enrolled in St. Isidore of Seville Elementary Virtual School will continue to learn remotely, while those students who were attending in-person will return to their classrooms."
Parents who may not want their kids to return to in-school learning are urged to contact the school's principal so arrangements for online learning can be made. The WECDSB acknowledged that parents may be hesitant to choose a learning method for their elementary-age kids for the remainder of the year, so declaration dates for those parents are March 22 through March 26.
