Rainbow District School Board and Sudbury Catholic District School Board have joined other school boards across the province in advising students to bring home personal belongings in case school resumes remotely in January.
The Canadian Press reports that large Southern Ontario boards have issued similar memos to parents and guardians.
The Rainbow board memo asks “that students please bring home any personal belongings and learning materials so they are ready for remote learning, if needed.”
The memo stresses that based on information the board has at this time, in-person learning will resume on Monday, Jan. 3, as scheduled.
“Given the situation with COVID-19 and the new variant of concern is very fluid, however, we want to ensure that we are prepared for any possible changes,” the memo said.
“If case counts increase over the holidays, the Ministry of Education and/or Public Health Sudbury & Districts could impose a delay to in-person learning. It’s important to note that no decision has been made at this time.”
The memo said that should a return to in-person learning be delayed, staff in schools will reach out to families on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 to arrange the safe distribution of technology.
It also addressed the rapid antigen screening kits provided by the Ministry of Education to in-person learners for use during the winter break.
“Your child’s participation in rapid antigen screening is voluntary,” said the memo. “Students are not required to complete the testing to return to the classroom. They are also not required to submit results.”
The Sudbury Catholic board memo, which is similar to the one issued by the Rainbow board, said that based on the information the board has at this time, in-person learning will resume Jan. 3, as scheduled.
“As you know, the situation with COVID-19 and the new variant of concern is very fluid,” said the press release.
“As such, we want to ensure that we are prepared for all possible scenarios. Therefore, we ask that students please bring home any personal belongings and learning materials, so that they are ready for remote learning, should this be required.
“With all of the measures in place, we remain hopeful that the case counts of COVID-19 will decrease. However, it is possible that if the case counts increase over the holidays, the government and/or Public Health Sudbury & Districts could impose a delay to in-person learning.”
The Sudbury Catholic board said that should a return to in-person learning be delayed, staff in schools will reach out to families on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 to arrange for the safe distribution of technology and to organize a move to remote learning.
Conseil scolaire catholique Nouvelon also provided us with a copy of the memo that is being sent to parents and guardians Friday.
"At the moment, the Ontario Ministry of Education maintains that students will return to class on Jan. 3, 2022. However, COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the province and across the country," said the memo.
"This situation is of concern to government and health authorities, especially as the Christmas holiday is about to begin. If any changes to the learning mode occur and our students are required to pursue their learning from home in January, we will keep you informed. If this is the case, the CSC Nouvelon will communicate with families through the Parents Portal (Portail parents) to advise you on the next steps leading us to this distance learning mode. The Conseil anticipates that a period of two to three days may be required to ensure the distribution of technological devices to students in all of our schools."
A spokesperson for Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario said the board has not issued a memo to parents and guardians at this time, but if things should change during the holidays, it will be communicating with families.
The Canadian Press reports a spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the provincial government has made investments to make schools safer "because we know how critical in-person learning is to the mental and physical health of Ontario students."
"Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health has been clear: schools have been made safer for in-person learning through enhanced ventilation, testing, and high-quality masks," Caitlin Clark said in a written statement.
"While four out of five schools have no active cases amid the emergence of Omicron, we are taking nothing for granted,"
While noting the provincial government has "enhanced ventilation and cleaning in every school" and "proactively sent 11 million rapid antigen tests home" with schoolchildren for the winter break, Clark said the ministry will continue to follow the advice of Ontario's chief medical officer of health "to support safe in-class learning."
On Tuesday, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, said he considers schools safe and hopes to keep schools open "as long as we can," with protocols being reviewed to make schools safer.
As of Dec. 16, the province reported 2,864 cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Ontario schools in the past 14 days, including 335 on Thursday alone.
Here in Greater Sudbury, there are 62 active cases of COVID-19 in local schools as of Dec. 17, as well as active COVID-19 outbreaks in six local schools.
-With files from Canadian Press
****This story has been updated to include information provided Friday morning by Conseil scolaire catholique Nouvelon.
