School boards in Grey and Bruce counties have been given the green light by the Ontario government to resume in-person learning next week.
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon that said: “On the advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the government is allowing seven public health units and over 100,000 students to return to class on Monday, January 25.”
The Grey Bruce Health Unit is among the seven public health units where elementary and secondary schools will be permitted to resume in-person learning next Monday.
Bluewater District School Board Director of Education Lori Wilder confirmed in a letter to parents/guardians that both elementary and secondary schools in the board will return to in-person learning next Monday.
Wilder noted student transportation services, as well as before and after school programs, will also resume on Jan. 25.
The Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board also confirmed its schools will open next Monday to elementary and secondary students, in a letter posted online by Director of Education Gary O’Donnell.
“As directed by the Ministry, students in Grades 1-3 will now be required to wear a mask. This means that beginning January 25, all students Grades 1-12 will be required to wear a mask while at school. There are also requirements that masks must be worn outside of school (at recess, before school begins) if physical distancing cannot be maintained,” O’Donnell said.
The Ontario government news release confirmed additional measures are being introduced to ensure schools remain safe, including provincewide targeted asymptomatic testing, enhanced screening and mandatory masking for students in Grades 1-3 / outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained.
An official with Saint-Dominique-Savio School in Owen Sound (Conseil scolaire catholique Providence) confirmed the school will re-open next Monday to in-class learning.
The Ontario government also confirmed Wednesday that schools in the Greater Toronto Area will remain closed to in-person learning for the time being.
Last week, the province announced students would continue remote-only learning in the Covid hotspots of Toronto, York, Peel, Windsor-Essex and Hamilton. School closures are also extended now in other GTA regions like Halton and Durham.
Schools in northern Ontario were able to resume in-person learning on Jan. 11.
Aside from Grey Bruce, the other health units that will be permitted return to classrooms on Jan. 25 are:
-Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
-Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit
-Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit
-Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit
-Peterborough Public Health
-Renfrew County and District Health Unit
