Ottawa’s largest school board plans to move away from quadmester model

The OCDSB says it remains hopeful a deal can still be reached before Wednesday.

Ottawa -

In a letter sent to families on Friday, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) looked ahead to what the 2021-2022 school year might look like.

At this point, OCDSB is indicating that secondary schools will likely move away from the quadmester model.

“Secondary schools that are regularly semestered will be organized by semesters for the 2021-22 school year”, the letter said.  

It is a change from March, when the board suggested high schools would continue operating using quadmesters.

According to Friday’s letter, the board is now planning to offer 300 minutes of direct in-person instruction daily, plus lunch.

There will be two in-person classes a day at 150 minutes for each.

“At this time, we are planning for classes to rotate week over week throughout the first semester, i.e. classes A and B one week with classes C and D the following, then repeat,” the letter states.

More information is expected to be released later in the summer.

As for elementary schools, the letter says the plans will look very similar to what is currently in place, with the return of some activities, if allowed under health guidelines at the time.