Ontario 3 Ontario?s School Reopening Plan Technical Briefing July 30, 2020 Key Context • Approximately 2 million students attend over 4,800 publicly-funded schools across the province. • On June 19, 2020, the ministry released the Approach to Reopening Schools for the 2020/21 School Year. School Boards were asked to plan for three (3) scenarios to be implemented in September, depending on the public health situation at the time: 1. 2. 3. Normal school day routine with enhanced public health protocols Modified school day routine - an adapted delivery model designed to allow for physical distancing and a maximum cohort of 15 students At home learning • Since that time, the public health data has changed considerably. • School reopening is critical to learning and development for Ontario’s students, and a critical support for families to get back to work and allow for the re-opening of the economy. 2 Health and Safety • Multiple strategies will be employed to ensure schools are healthy and safe environments for students and staff: • • • • • • • • Self screening Adapted school environments Hand hygiene Masking • Students in Grade 4 to 12 will be required to wear non-medical or cloth masks while in school. • Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 will be encouraged but not required to wear masks in common spaces. • Medical masks will be provided for teachers and all other school staff. • Reasonable exceptions to the requirement will be put in place by schools and school boards. Cohorting Distancing Limiting visitors in schools Pre-registration 3 Elementary School Reopening • Elementary school children in Kindergarten through Grade 8 will attend school 5 days per week, with one cohort for the full day, including recess and lunch. • Enhanced health and safety protocols will be in place. • School boards will provide the full range of elementary curriculum. 4 Secondary School Reopening • All school boards will adopt secondary timetabling methods that emphasize cohorting of students as much as possible, to limit the number of student-tostudent contacts. • Secondary schools in designated school boards will open on an adapted model, with class cohorts of approximately 15 students, attending on alternate days, or alternate schedules that would represent in person attendance for at least 50% of instructional days. • Secondary schools in non-designated school boards will be permitted to open with daily attendance by students. Secondary schools in these boards typically have smaller enrolment. • Please refer to Appendices for the Designated and Non Designated Boards 5 Support for Families • Parents will make decisions regarding in-person attendance for their children for this school year and will have the option of remote learning, delivered by school boards. • Students with a high level of special education needs who are unable to study remotely will be permitted daily attendance and instruction. • School boards will be ready to implement adapted and remote learning models should they be required. 6 School Health Monitoring System • A new school health monitoring system will be established through a partnership between the ministries of Health and Education, school boards and local public health to monitor and respond to reports of COVID-19 symptoms. • Students or staff members who develop COVID-19 symptoms will immediately be separated from others. • Staff and parents will be directed to consult their health provider and should be provided with information about COVID-19 testing locations. • Persons who test positive may not return to school until they are cleared by public health. • Persons who test negative can return once they are symptom-free for 24 hours. • Schools will immediately report any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19. • Schools will ensure records of classes, transported students, and visitors to the school are maintained and readily available to be provided to public health for contact tracing purposes. • School staff will receive training on required processes and procedures. • The ministries of Education and Health are working together to provide testing capacity to keep schools safe and treat any affected student or teacher/staff member. 7 New Investments • The Ontario government is supporting the re-opening of schools through $309 million in new funding for a range of investments, including: • • • • • • • • • Masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - $60M Funding for Additional Staffing - $80M Cleaning Supplies - $25M Health and Safety Training - $10M Transportation – Cleaning Supplies and PPE - $40M Lab Testing Capacity - $23.7M Additional Public Health Nurses - $50M Additional Mental Health Supports - $10M Additional Supports for Students with Special Needs - $10M • These investments complement the additional $25 million in new funding for mental health supports and technology to support school reopening that the ministry recently announced with the 2020-21 Grants for Student Needs (GSN). • In June, the government announced an additional investment of $736 million in public education for the 2020-21 school year. 8 Appendix #1: Designated School Boards 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Toronto Toronto Catholic Peel Dufferin-Peel Catholic York York Catholic Durham Durham Catholic Halton Halton Catholic Waterloo Waterloo Catholic 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. Thames Valley London Dist. Catholic Ottawa-Carleton Ottawa Catholic Hamilton-Wentworth Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic Niagara Niagara Catholic Greater Essex County Windsor-Essex Catholic Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est 24. Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario 9 Appendix #2: Non Designated School Boards 1. Algoma DSB 2. Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic DSB 3. Avon Maitland DSB 4. Bluewater DSB 5. Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB 6. Bruce-Grey Catholic DSB 7. Catholic DSB of Eastern Ontario 8. Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l'Est ontarien 9. Conseil scolaire catholique Mon Avenir 10. Conseil scolaire catholique Providence 11. Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boréales 12. Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Grandes Rivières 13. Conseil scolaire catholique Nouvelon 14. Conseil scolaire catholique FrancoNord 15. Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario 16. Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l'Ontario 17. Conseil scolaire Viamonde 18. District School Board Ontario North East 19. Grand Erie DSB 20. Hastings and Prince Edward DSB 21. Huron Perth Catholic DSB 22. Huron-Superior Catholic DSB 23. Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB 24. Keewatin-Patricia DSB 25. Kenora Catholic DSB 26. Lakehead DSB 10 Appendix #2: Non Designated School Boards 27.Lambton Kent DSB 28.Limestone DSB 29.Near North DSB 30.Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic DSB 31.Northeastern Catholic DSB 32.Northwest Catholic DSB 33.Peterborough Victoria Northumberland & Clarington Catholic DSB 34.Rainbow DSB 35.Rainy River DSB 36.Renfrew County Catholic DSB 37.Renfrew County DSB 38.Simcoe County DSB 39. Simcoe Muskoka Catholic DSB 40. St. Clair Catholic DSB 41. Sudbury Catholic DSB 42. Superior North Catholic DSB 43. Superior-Greenstone DSB 44. Thunder Bay Catholic DSB 45. Trillium Lakelands DSB 46. Upper Canada DSB 47. Upper Grand DSB 48. Wellington Catholic DSB 11