School boards in London, Ont., And the area are turning to online learning as news comes in that schools will be away again amid a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Both the London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB) and the Thames Valley District School Board (LDCSB) say they will be ready to begin online learning in some way on January 5.
“I’m not surprised by today’s announcement. I am a huge advocate for in-person learning; I think it’s the best option for students, but I don’t want to put students and staff in a position where we can’t guarantee their safety, ”said TVDSB Director of Education Mark Fisher. .
“Our staff members are relieved to have this period of time to adjust and make sure all the updated health and safety protocols are in place. Obviously, there is a disappointment in the community that we are not going to go back to face-to-face learning ”.
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On Monday, the Ford administration announced that as part of its response to the Omicron bypass, all students will transition to remote learning, with free emergency child care planned for schools.
“All private and publicly funded schools will transition to remote learning from January 5 through at least January 17, subject to public health trends and operational considerations,” the government said.
The move comes less than a week after Ontario Medical Director of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said students would return to the classroom Wednesday after the break. Now, instead of going back to the classroom, students will go online.
“This is not the first time we have moved to remote learning, so we are going to follow the same process we did in the past,” said LDCSB Director of Education Vince Romeo.
Romeo says they will work to make sure all students have access to the technology they need.
“Ultimately, we want the students in our schools to learn face-to-face, but the reality of our current environment makes us wonder what a shift back to remote learning will look like,” said Romeo.
“Transitioning to instruction and student engagement in an online environment will be the focus for the next few days.”
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Before winter break, both the TVDSB and the LDCSB advised students to take all their belongings home in case they went online.
How long the move will take is still unknown, and both school boards say there is a possibility that the January 17 time frame will be extended.
“We have to make sure schools are safe before we can get back to in-person learning,” Fisher said.
“The good news is that we are very comfortable with these digital platforms. We have deployed tens of thousands of devices and we will ensure that no student is unnecessarily harmed as a result of this shift to virtual learning. “
Over the last few weeks, the number of cases in the London Middlesex region has increased rapidly, with record numbers several days in a row.
The move to online learning was just one of many new measures announced by the Ontario government to stop the spread of COVID-19, including new capacity limits.
– with files from Gabby Rodrigues of Global News
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