The province has detailed its plan to bring students back to the classroom on Sept. 8.
In addition to the expected increased cleaning and space between students, COVID-19 has changed more about what school will look like in the fall.
At a press conference Wednesday, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang said that includes treating each class as a bubble and using staggered schedules to minimize contact between different classes.
Parents will be required to screen, or help self-screen, their students and any student who becomes sick at school will be isolated and returned home as quickly as possible.
Masks will be required on school buses, and there will be no locker access.
Highschool students will be required to wear masks where it’s not possible to physically distance, as in hallways and common areas. Anyone can choose to wear a mask at other times if they wish.
Handwashing will be required before and during the school day.
No large gatherings are allowed, including assemblies.
Clubs and sports will be allowed, so long as they can observe public health guidelines.
Music and physical education classes will have additional cleaning and distance requirements, and gym classes will be outside as much as possible.
Parents and other adults will have limited access to schools, and if required at the school must visit the office for extra instructions. Parent-teacher conferences will be done virtually.
Some children with underlying conditions that make them at high-risk from COVID-19 will not be allowed to return to school, and Dr. Strang said the Department of Education will work with their parents to develop an at home learning plan.
Staff will be supplied with PPE, and there will be higher levels of PPE given to staff who deal with children who require significant close contact.
Dr. Strang said they are working to balance the needs of students with public safety.
“Our goal is not to have zero cases of COVID,” he said. “Our goal is to, actually, create safe environments and then have a health system, and a public health system, that can respond quickly.”
Dr. Strang said there are contingencies in place for spikes of COVID-19.
He said they will respond locally and can makes changes in one zone while leaving looser restrictions in place in another.
Dr. Strang said they can switch to a blended method, with high school students mostly at home, and using that space to better separate elementary students remaining at the schools.
He said in a worst-case scenario they would move back to an at-home learning model.
