Teachers are telling students to take home all important items when schools break for the Christmas holidays on Friday. The advice came on the province’s recommendations to prepare for the possibility of online learning after the holidays.
A memo from Education Minister Stephen Lecce sent to all Ontario school boards on Wednesday told students and educators to be prepared and bring home anything they might need should there be a need to shift to remote learning due to rising coronavirus cases.
“Our chief medical officer of health has confirmed that the transmission of COVID-19 in schools has remained low … however, the public health environment in Ontario continues to evolve rapidly,” the document said.
“As a reminder, we are recommending that boards encourage students and staff to take home any materials that they may require for remote learning before they leave school for the holiday period so that we can continue to be ready for all scenarios.”
The ministry clarified that this is not a confirmation of remote learning after the holidays as no decision has been made yet.
A similar memo was issued earlier this year reminding boards to be prepared to make the switch to online learning, if needed.
The memo also doesn’t specify if some or all boards will be directed to move exclusively to remote learning or a hybrid version of both in-class and online learning.
