THUNDER BAY - Students across Ontario will continue to learn from home for the remainder of the school year.
Premier Doug Ford announced on Tuesday during his daily media briefing that all public and private schools in the province will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.
“The safety of our children is my top priority,” Ford said. “One thing I will never do is take unnecessary risk when it comes to our children. That is why after careful consideration, after consulting with health experts, it is clear that we cannot open schools at this time. I am just not going to risk it.”
All publically funded schools in the province have been closed since March 14. Ontario was the first province in the country to close schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This was not an easy decision to make, but it was the right decision,” Ford said. “We have a plan to ensure our children’s education can continue outside of the classroom. At home learning will continue. All students from Grades K through 12 will receive a report card.”
Ford added that all students slated to graduate this year will be able to do so.
The province launched a learning from home program last month for students and that will continue for the remainder of the academic year.
“Our plan is about ensuring students remain safe from COVID-19 and remain learning while at home,” said Minister of Education Stephen Lecce. “We want to recognize those educators who stepped up to support students.”
The province will also be scaling up its summer learning program and will be working with school boards across Ontario for reopening schools in September.
“We will be introducing new protocols, new standards, to ensure students can return to class safely,” Lecce said. “We will announce those plans before students return in September. We will unveil the full plan by the end of this school year.”
Lecce added there will be a focus on credit recovery this summer for students who may not have done well this year while learning from home to retake courses and Grade 8 students to to prepare for entering high school in the summer.
When asked why the province won't allow more remote or rural areas of the province not hit as hard by COVID-19 to reopen schools, Ford said it isn't worth the risk.
"I am just not going to chance it when it comes to our kids," he said. "We know people travel all across this province. Some areas don’t have any COVID cases. But why chance it? When it comes to our children, I am not going to chance anything."
Overnight summer camps will also remain closed this summer and based on advice from the chief medical officer of health, day camps could be permitted to open with strict safety measures in July and August.
“Unfortunately we just can’t have camps of 500 kids living together right now,” Ford said.
Daycares across the province will also remain closed, but it is expected they will be included in stage two of the three-stage framework for reopening the province’s economy.
“We also recognize that day care is vital to our recovering,” Lecce said. “Following advice from the chief medical officer of health, day cares will remain closed through stage one.”
