All elementary and secondary school students in the greater Kawarthas region will be returning to in-person learning on Monday, January 25th.
Ontario education minister Stephen Lecce issued a statement about school re-openings late Wednesday afternoon (January 20).
“On the advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the government is allowing seven public health units and over 100,000 students to return to class on Monday, January 25,” Lecce states. “Getting students back into class is our top priority.”
For students returning to in-person learning, masks will now be mandatory inside schools for all students, including those in Grades 1 to 3 (masks are recommended but not mandatory for Kindergarten students). Masks will now also be required outdoors where physical distancing of at least two metres cannot be maintained.
The government will also be introducing additional safety measures, including province-wide targeted asymptomatic testing and enhanced screening.
Schools in the following public health units will be permitted to resume in-person learning on Monday:
- Grey Bruce Health Unit
- Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
- Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit
- Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit
- Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit
- Peterborough Public Health
- Renfrew County and District Health Unit
All school boards in the greater Kawarthas region are affected by this announcement but, as some of the school boards span multiple public health units, not all schools within every school board will be resuming in-person learning. However, all schools within the greater Kawarthas region will be resuming in-person learning on January 25th.
Below are the details for each school board in in the greater Kawarthas region.
Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board
All elementary and secondary schools will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th. Transportation to schools will resume as usual on Monday.
Trillium Lakelands District School Board
All elementary and secondary schools within the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th, with bus service also resuming. Elementary and secondary schools within the District of Muskoka will continue with remote learning.
Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board
All elementary and secondary schools within the city and county of Peterborough and Northumberland County will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th, with bus service also resuming. Elementary and secondary schools within the Municipality of Clarington will continue with remote learning.
Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board
All elementary and secondary schools within the city and county of Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th, with bus service also resuming. Elementary and secondary schools within the Municipality of Clarington will continue with remote learning.
Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Centre-Est de l’Ontario
All elementary and secondary schools outside of Ottawa will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th. Elementary and secondary schools in Ottawa will continue with remote learning.
