London-area school boards to delay first day of class for some students, officials say
The plans for when kids will start classes haven't been finalized yet
The Thames Valley District School Board will stagger its first day of school for some students to allow teachers to focus on smaller groups of kids as they explain COVID-19 protocols this September, CBC News has learned.
"This option wasn't even available to us a week ago, but it is now and we intend to take advantage of it," said director of education Mark Fisher.
"With 160 different school locations, I think the flexibility of dividing the student body into different sections and then having the different sections of kids come on different days, to work on the different health and safety routines, is something that we have to take advantage of."
The school year officially starts Sept. 8, but earlier this week the Ontario government gave school boards the option to extend that opening over two weeks.
The London District Catholic School Board is also working to "explore possibilities" for its return-to-school schedule, a spokesperson said. Details will be released within a week.
Both boards have schools in London as well as Elgin, Oxford and Middlesex counties.
Officials with the Thames Valley board plan to release their plan at a meeting of the board of trustees on Tuesday, Fisher said.
The details are still being worked out about how many students will start on the first day and how the phasing in of the return will happen.
"The first day or two of school will be a school experience that will be fundamentally different than anything that anyone, staff or student, has experienced before," Fisher said.
"For instance, we could have half the number of students in your class for the first few days, you have fewer students in each class, and more individualized instruction," Fisher said. "That way the teacher can explain the protocols for masks, for going out for recess, using the washroom, how to use classroom materials. They will work them through the routine, and then a different section of kids would come in for a few days."
The plan won't have to be approved by the Ministry of Education because it falls within the parameters of what was already approved.