Most Ontario students back to class today without COVID restrictions

Students head back to the classroom this week, but with virtually all COVID-19 restrictions lifted, it will be a far different school year than the one they’ve grown accustomed to during the pandemic. Tina Yazdani speaks to parents, teachers and stud

By Michael Ranger

Students across much of Ontario are returning to the classroom on Tuesday for the first start of the school year without COVID-19 restrictions since the pandemic began.

Students in the province, who resume class Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the district, will be able to attend class without wearing a mask, while in-person lessons will trump remote options.

“I am fully committed to a stable return to class without disruption through to the end of June,” said education minister Stephen Lecce, in a statement released on Labour Day.

“By working together, we can help Ontario students continue to learn in-person for the entire school year, catch up on their studies, and enjoy the normal school experience that students deserve.”


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Returning students will have access to extracurricular activities for the first time since the pandemic began, the education minister stressed the need for the return to the “full student experience” earlier in the summer.

“I’m feeling very excited, because I’ve been doing online school for two years,” one student tells CityNews.

Another says they are looking forward to being back in class with their peers. “I’m excited to see my friends and my teachers, and hopefully get more friends,” she says.

Acknowledging that many students may have fallen behind during lengthy periods of remote learning, the province’s back to school plan, unveiled by Lecce this summer highlighted “a new province-wide tutoring program – the largest of its kind in the country – and expanded summer learning.”

The province says it is also emphasizing skilled trades, and making education more practical by teaching youth about personal financial management, budgeting and financial planning.

In the GTA, students in Peel, Halton, and Durham regions are all back in class on Tuesday. The catholic and public boards in Toronto and York Region are back in class on Wednesday.


Back to school on Sep. 6

  • Peel District School Board
  • Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
  • Halton District School Board
  • Halton Catholic District School Board
  • Durham District School Board
  • Durham Catholic District School Board

Back to school on Sep. 7

  • Toronto District School Board
  • Toronto Catholic District School Board
  • York Region District School Board
  • York Catholic District School Board

Province lifts isolation rules as school resumes

Ontario’s top doctor announced last week that people who test positive for COVID-19 no longer have to isolate for five days, but can return to work or school once their fever is gone and their other symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours.

Moore said people should wear a mask for 10 days after the onset of symptoms and keep up-to-date with their vaccinations, calling the combination a “pragmatic and practical” approach for work and school environments.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch tells CityNews it’s important to mask up if someone is still testing positive but not displaying any symptoms.

“If people are going to come out of isolation, they absolutely should be wearing that mask for the 10 day period,” he says. “We know COVID is transmitted in indoor settings.”

But the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation say they’re worried about allowing children and educators to return to the classroom while still potentially contagious could cause the virus to spread faster in schools.

“I’m a little bit nervous about that,” says one teacher. “It’s a positive and a negative. It means that we have more time with the kids and they don’t miss as much.”

Moore said Ontarians can expect another increase in COVID-19 cases this fall, and asked everyone to stay up to date with their COVID and flu vaccines.

However, he said improvements such as better ventilation and environmental cleaning in schools, combined with the level of immunization across Ontario, mean “we now can have a more permissive approach to return.”

Data published by the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table shows wastewater signals, an early COVID-19 trend indicator, have ticked up since mid-August after declining for three weeks.


With files from The Canadian Press, Michael Talbot and Tina Yazdani

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