Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce say kids will be back in class full time in September five-days a week with strict health and safety guidelines in place.
Face coverings will be mandatory for students in Grade 4 to 12 while on school property. They will be “encouraged” for Kindergarten to Grade 3 students.
Masks and other appropriate PPE will be provided to teachers and other school staff, according to Lecce.
For students in kindergarten to Grade 8, they will be expected to attend class five-days a week but they will be placed in one cohort for the entire day, which will include recess and lunch.
For high school students, there will be class cohorts of approximately 15-students attending class on alternate days or alternate schedules.
This plan would apply to 24-designated school boards across the province including Halton, Toronto District, Toronto Catholic, Peel, York, Durham, Hamilton-Wentworth, and Ottawa-Carlton.
All students or their parents will have to complete a checklist on their health at the start of each day, and anyone feeling unwell will have to stay home.
Anyone who develops symptoms while at school will be separated from all others.
All sick students may need a COVID-19 test.
If they test negative, they may return to school 24-hours after symptoms end.
If they test positive, they may not return to school until advised to do so by a local public health unit.
Any student who wishes to continue learning from home will be allowed to do so.
