Today, Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, issued the following statement to provide an update on schools resuming in-person learning:
“On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, with the support of the local Medical Officers of Health, and with the introduction of additional layers of protection, 280,000 students in four public health regions will return to class on Monday, February 1.
The government agrees with the growing consensus in the medical community that returning students to in-person learning is essential to the wellbeing, development and mental health of children. According to leading medical and scientific experts, including Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, our province’s schools are safe places for learning.”
Elementary and secondary schools in four additional public health units (PHUs) will be permitted to return to in-person learning on February 1, 2021. This will bring the total number of students able to learn in-person to 520,000 across the province.
The four additional PHUs are:
Eastern Ontario Health Unit
Middlesex-London Health Unit
Southwestern Public Health
Ottawa Public Health
This means locally that all schools in the following schools boards will resume in-person learning on February 1:
London District Catholic School Board
Thames Valley District School Board