5 things you need to know before Ottawa students return to school
As Ottawa students, parents and teachers prepare for the return of in-person learning on Monday, the director of education of the city’s largest school board is preaching patience.
In a note to families on Friday, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board director of education Camille Williams-Taylor acknowledged the recent transitions have been hard for families and “there are mixed feelings about the timing of the return to in-person learning.”
“School staff, like families, are trying to balance their professional responsibilities with their personal safety and family obligations,” Williams-Taylor said. “These are stressful times for everyone and now more than ever, it is so important that we take a moment to pause, reflect and respond, rather than react.”
The rapidly spreading Omicron variant delayed the return of in-person classes for two weeks. The province said this time was used to distribute masks and more HEPA filters to school boards, as well as allow more people to get vaccinated and boosted.
Classes will reopen under different circumstances on Monday, including a new case reporting strategy. Under new provincial guidelines, parents will only be notified of a potential COVID-19 outbreak when about 30 per cent of staff and students in the school are absent.
School buses will also resume on Monday. And school-based vaccine clinics are in the works for later this month.
Here are five things parents should keep in mind when school returns on Monday:
Daily screening tool
Officials are asking students, parents ands taff to use the provincial COVID-19 screening tool every morning to determine whether to attend school in-person. You can find it here.
Mask-wearing
Schools will distribute three-ply cloth masks to students starting next week. The Ottawa Catholic School Board said it has received 120,000 to distribute, along with more than 201,000 N95 masks for staff.
The OCDSB points out that parents may want to send an extra mask for outdoor play, since masks worn outdoors in cold weather can become damp.
Rapid testing
The province is distributing two rapid antigen tests to each student. The OCDSB says it hopes to give them out to elementary students next week once the shipment arrives, and secondary students at a later date.
They are to be used if students show symptoms of COVID-19. If a student receives two negative tests and no longer has any symptoms of COVID-19, they can return to school.
Absence reporting
The Ontario government says parents will only be notified of a potential COVID-19 outbreak when about 30 per cent of staff and students in the school are absent.
When student and staff absenteeism in an individual school reaches that threshold, it will trigger the principal to notify local health officials. At that point, a joint letter from the local medical officer of health and the principal would be sent to the community.
At that point, it’s possible the school would revert to remote learning, though not required.
Possible school closures
Both the OCDSB and OCSB say they will make every effort to keep schools open, but classes may have to move to remote learning if there are staffing shortages.
Parents will be advised the night before, and they are encouraged to have contingency plans in place and monitor their emails for updates.
For more information on the return to school, you can visit the OCDSB and OCSB’s websites.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.