Ontario high schools will return to regular semesters in February

In a wide-ranging announcement on Thursday, Ontario’s government announced it will allow high schools to shift back to regular semesters come February.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce made the announcement alongside Health Minister Christine Elliott and Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore.

Government officials say school boards can make the change sooner if they have their local public health unit’s support.

Numerous school boards have requested the move away from “modified semesters,” which saw students take four courses each term, alternating which two classes they had each week.

The system allows for easier cohorting, but students and parents have complained that the three-hour classes make it hard to absorb and retain information.

Thursday’s announcement immediately got a stamp of approval from the Ontario Public School Boards Association.

“This return to a regular timetable for secondary students will improve student engagement and achievement, while allowing educators to create more effective teaching and learning environments,” OPSBA President Cathy Abraham said in a written statement. “This is definitely good news.”

The Toronto Catholic District School Board was among the boards that had asked the province to switch to regular semesters, and it said Thursday it would aim to change schedules in February 2022.

Even the Opposition NDP applauded the move.

“I think everybody is happy, generally, to see that change,” Education Critic Marit Stiles said.

The change is part of a suite of measures the province is announcing today, which includes a holiday testing “blitz” that will take place with local health units deploying mobile sites in higher traffic areas; like shopping malls and markets, to name a few.

In the last academic year, many secondary schools opted for a “quadmester” model, in which the year was divided into four terms, each with only two courses.

Lecce said elementary students, many of whom are currently too young to be vaccinated, will not see their schedules or cohorting rules change.

“We’re introducing additional temporary measures to protect them as the winter months approach,” he said.

Health Canada is expected to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in kids aged five to 11 on Friday, but Lecce said it will take time to get vaccination rates up in that age group.

The government says that starting in January — if not earlier — all elementary school-wide assemblies are to be held virtually.

Lunches and breaks in elementary schools will be restricted to classroom cohorts indoors when distancing between cohorts can’t be maintained.

The province reported 129 new cases in Ontario schools on Thursday; 114 of them involved students. There have been 1,200 school-related cases in the last two weeks.

With files from Mark McAllister of CityNews