With students preparing to head back to school on September 7th, we now have a better about how it will look for students with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB).
COVID-19 vaccines will not be mandatory for staff or students, but TLDSB officials are encouraging both to get inoculated before school starts. Officials say our health unit will have pop-up clinics at “most” TLDSB secondary schools.
All students in grades one through 12 will be required to attend school every day. Families will be able to choose between in-person or at-home learning in the spring.
Online learning will continue. TLDSB officials say teachers will be reaching out to families before September 7th to go over the details of the program.
While they didn’t provide details, TLDSB officials say they will have “optimal airflow” through schools thanks to provincial funding. At a later date, a report will be published on the school board’s website detailing the upgraded filters and airflow management in the schools.
It will be a typical five-hour school day for elementary students, while kindergarten to grade eight students will stick with one teacher for the “greatest extent possible.” For secondary schools, students will follow a quadmester schedule working on two courses at a time for half a day each. Classes will be outdoors as often as possible, depending on the weather, and masks won’t be required. That also goes for recess, breaks and lunchtime.
A designated space will be set up in the school that maintains six feet of physical distancing for any students needing a mask break.
If a staff member or student gets COVID-19, the protocol remains the same for how the schools will deal with it. “All schools will follow a COVID-19 case management protocol in collaboration with local public health units,” TLDSB officials say.
For the first month of school, parents and guardians will not be allowed in unless there is an emergency. “This timeline will be received at the end of September,” officials with the school board say.
The enhanced cleaning protocols that were put in place for the previous school year will continue. All students will be required to wear masks while in school or on the bus as well. Class – and occasionally bus route – cohorts will be in place for elementary school students.
The entire back-to-school plan is available on TLDSB’s website.