The Ontario government has decided to prolong public school closures until at least May to help fight the spread of COVID-19.
Instead of reopening on April 6 as was originally planned, public schools will remain closed until May 1 for teachers and May 4 for students. However, the closure could be extended further if necessary to protect the health and safety of students, families and staff.
Tuesday’s announcement was made by Premier Doug Ford, alongside Health Minister Christine Elliott, the Minister of Education Stephen Lecce and the Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano.
Public schools will remain closed to teachers until May 1, and May 4 for students. This is a difficult but necessary decision that protects the health and safety of not only our students, but everyone in the province. https://t.co/Lg12kGcace pic.twitter.com/jmAxzQ8Cbs
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) March 31, 2020
Closures for private schools, licensed child care centres and EarlyON programs were extended until April 13 — as the provincial state of emergency declaration only allows closures to be extended for two weeks at a time. However, centres designated to support frontline health care workers and first responders will remain open.
“As I’ve told you before, the situation continues to change day by day, hour by hour, and in order to protect our children, I’m prepared to extend these closures even further if we have to,” Ford said.
As Ontario’s number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb, Ford stressed the extension was necessary to help flatten the curve.
“The decision to extend school closures was not made lightly,” Ford said. “We know from the medical experts that the next two weeks will be critical in the fight against COVID-19 and that’s why we’re taking further action to keep our kids safe and healthy by having them stay home.”
In the meantime, the government has launched the second phase of its Learn at Home program with online tools and resources to keep children engaged in their education. The program outlines a new set of expectations for students learning at home, which requires a certain amount of hours dedicated to different subjects each week for each grade.
We’ve launched Phase 2 of our Learn From Home program. New additions:
? Reconnecting students with teachers and other school staff
? Phone and email contact
? Teacher feedback
? Report cards
? Prioritizing graduating students
? Distributing school technology to homes pic.twitter.com/LlfiVAAmRn— Doug Ford (@fordnation) March 31, 2020
The requirements are as follows:
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- Kindergarten-Grade 3: five hours of work per student/week (focus on literacy and math)
- Grades 4-6: five hours of work per student/week (focus on literacy, math, science and social studies)
- Grades 7-8: 10 hours of work per student/week (focus on math, literacy, science and social studies)
- Grades 9-12: three hours of work per course per week for semestered students; 1.5 hours of work per course per week for non-semestered students (focus on achieving credits/completion/graduation)
The Ministry of Education will reportedly be taking additional steps to help support students in this time. The additional support includes distributing laptops and devices from schools as needed. Officials are also looking into making portable Wi-Fi hotspots available for families in need.
Teachers will also be expected to provide final report cards for all students and to prioritize and support students on track to graduate.
“One way or another, by printed materials or tablet, every child should and will be able to continue learning through the curriculum, supported by their teacher,” said Stephen Lecce.
