The Ottawa French public school board's back-to-school plan includes mandatory masks for all grades

OTTAWA -

Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten students will be required to wear a mask in class when school starts next week at Ottawa's French public schools.

The Conseil des ecoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario released details on its back-to-school plan ahead of the first day of classes on Tuesday, Aug. 31.

The board says wearing masks is now mandatory for all Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten students in all CEPEO schools.

"It must be worn in classrooms, hallways and school buses. Students can remove their mask while outdoors with their cohort while maintaining physical distancing as much as possible," said the CEPEO.

The Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est is also making masks mandatory for all Kindergarten and JK students, while the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa Catholic School Board says masks are encouraged for students in Kindergarten and JK, but not mandatory.

The CEPEO reminds parents and students that masks are mandatory for all students in Grades 1 to 12, including in hallways, in the classroom and on school buses.

Here is a look at other back-to-school plans for the CEPEO.

Elementary schools

Elementary school students, from Kindergarten to Grade 8, will go to class five days a week.

Students will receive 300 minutes of instruction per day and remain in the same cohort throughout the day.

Secondary schools

Students at the following schools will attend school five days a week and follow a quadrimestral schedule (two courses for periods of nine weeks):

• É.s.p De la Salle
• É.s.p Maurice-Lapointe
• É.s.p Omer-Deslauriers
• É.s.p Louis-Riel
• É.s.p Gisèle-Lalonde
• É.s.p L’Héritage
• É.s.p Le Sommet

The following schools will offer a semester model this year.

• É.s.p L’Alternative
• É.s.p Rivière Rideau
• É.s.p L’Académie de la Seigneurie
• É.s.p Marc-Garneau
• É.s.p Mille-Îles
• É.s.p L’Équinoxe
• É.s.p Pierre-de-Blois