What Ontario parents need to know ahead of the start of the school year

In just a few short weeks, students will return to the classroom for what will hopefully be the first normal start to the school year in three years.

Students, teachers, and parents are hoping lockdowns and restrictions won’t taint this school year as during the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. But how are school boards preparing for uninterrupted success?

Currently, the seventh wave of COVID-19 has peaked, driven by the BA.5 variant, but the province could likely see another wave in the fall once people start to head indoors.

“Educators are looking for stability within the system, looking for consistency. They don’t want interrupted learning. They don’t want there to be ins and out. We’re looking for a year of absolute steadiness and to support students’ growth,” said Karen Brown, President of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).

Several parents tell CityNews they and their children are excited to get back. One mother said her teenage kids were inspired to have a more normal school year but are also apprehensive.

Another parent admitted that COVID-19 seems to be an issue of the past.

“COVID-19 feels like a distant memory out here at the splash pad and playground — with kids just being kids.”

“I want parents to know that their teachers, our educators, and early childhood educators are just as excited to welcome them back to school. We’re looking for a school year where our members can help students succeed,” said Brown.

Students are returning to the classroom on September 6.

What will schools look like for students and teachers?

Ontario’s Ministry of Education says most of the health and safety requirements from the end of the 2021-2022 school year remain unchanged for the upcoming term.

Masks will again not be required for students and teachers, but they will be allowed to wear them. The mandate was dropped in March of 2022, during the last school year.

Notifications about COVID-19 cases in a child’s classroom are no longer mandatory. However, some school boards may choose to keep parents in the loop, as the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) did back in the spring. They have not indicated whether they plan to continue the practice.

Some Ontario school boards will still monitor absence rates, and if they should increase above what is considered normal, principals will be encouraged to contact their local health unit. School boards will also continue to have access to rapid antigen tests.

There is still a screening tool available on the Ontario website to help check for COVID-19 symptoms.

The ministry said they have also deployed over 100,000 HEPA filters and require school boards to communicate ventilation measures to parents publicly.

Their “Plan to Catch Up” means that clubs, sports, and extracurricular activities will also be in full swing this year.

There will also be “historic supports” to get students who may have fallen behind during the lengthy periods of remote learning back on track, including a province-wide tutoring program.

Brown said that parents could expect things to look similar to what they did pre-pandemic.

Students, teachers, and parents are hoping lockdowns and restrictions won’t taint this school year as during the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. But how are school boards preparing for uninterrupted success? Photo: Duane Loux.

“We’re moving along to try to make the transition back to what we would call a normal school year with extracurriculars, with recitals, plays, projects, assemblies, and all those sorts of things, but we’re going to have to follow and work with the public health guidelines,” Brown said.

She added that ETFO members would be looking at their personal circumstances to guide how they are in the classroom.

“Health guidelines right now indicate that masking is optional. Some of our members will be masking, some won’t. [For] students, some will, and some will not. They’ll be using their discretion around that and trying to protect themselves. [Our members] are in different stages of their careers, different ages, different levels of vulnerability, and they’re going to make those choices.”

The TDSB tells CityNews they are still working on the final decisions about health and safety protocols, and they will be made closer to the beginning of school.

How can you keep your children safe?

Pediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Anna Banerji said with no mask mandate and a return to normal school activities, inevitably, COVID-19 cases will pop up in schools and will spread in classrooms.

“As soon as we have people going into school, that’s a closed environment when you have 30 or so kids in sharing the same airspace over a six-to-eight-hour period. And so we’re not testing, masks are not mandatory, then I expect that there will be other ways and there will be more spread,” said Dr. Banerji.

She said encouraging your children to wear masks will be key to decreasing the spread of COVID-19.

“We have to remember we’re wearing the masks not just to protect ourselves, but to protect our communities. And if we put that in a positive light, that you’re someone who is rising up to the challenge and doing the right thing, then maybe some kids, more people will wear masks,” explained Dr. Banerji.

“I know it’s challenging.”

Dr. Benerji also said it would be a lot easier for the Ministry of Education to put mask mandates back in place.

“You don’t want to have to be reactive in an emergency kind of situation, or half the kids are sick, and then their families getting sick and then suddenly have to make a response and maybe even shut down schools for a while,” said Dr. Banerj.

“We don’t want them anymore. It’s better to be proactive and to prevent this from happening than to have to respond to it.”

Now that COVID-19 vaccinations are available for children five and under, all school-aged children will have access to a COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Benerji said parents should be vaccinating their children ahead of the school year.

“The other weapon that we have is really getting kids vaccinated … And so that is something that I would encourage parents to do.”

Status of teacher contract negotiations

Another possible disruption for the school year is teachers’, contracts which are set to expire on August 31, just days before the next school year is set to start in most schools.

Education unions are in the process of negotiating new contracts with the provincial government and have said they intend to argue for bigger raises to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living.

Brown said should there be any interruptions, they would come much later in the school year.

“It would be much later; It’s a lengthy process. Talks don’t break down, and then we’re going on the picket lines,” said Brown.

“Our members want – parents want, students want – stability in the system. So, that means really working at the table to get the best deal for our members.”

Premier Doug Ford has said teachers would get a raise much larger than one per cent in their new contracts but hasn’t set an exact figure.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Ford have both stressed in recent weeks they do not want labour disruptions to affect extracurriculars like sports and clubs, something that happened during the last bargaining phase three years ago when teachers took work-to-rule action.

Teachers’ unions have noted, in response, that extracurriculars are voluntary for teachers to offer.

With files from The Canadian Press