Most Toronto public school families opt for in-person learning, school returns Sept. 9

The majority of Toronto students have opted to head back to in-person class when school returns on Sept. 9, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) says.

Of the nearly 172,000 families who gave the board their preferences for learning, 86 per cent of elementary and secondary school families opted for the in-person option. The decisions come even as the Ministry of Education and school board still finalize their guidelines for returning to class.

“We know [families] want to know what September is going to look like, and they want to know now,” said TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird. “We are trying to get as much information as we can to them as soon as we can.”

TDSB schools will be officially opening their doors to students on Thursday, Sept. 9.

Families with students going into junior kindergarten or Grade 9 were most likely to opt for in-person learning, at 91 per cent. Grade 12 students were most likely to opt for virtual learning, with one in five selecting the online option.

“We certainly do want to see children in in-person learning,” Dr. Vinita Dubey, Toronto’s associate medical officer of health, told a TDSB board meeting Tuesday night. “We know that there are many, many benefits, beyond public health benefits, to having children learning in school.”

Whether in-person or virtual, students will see some changes to the way they learn this year, though many of the public health measures put in place for the COVID-19 pandemic will remain the same.

In elementary school, the TDSB is creating dedicated virtual and in-person classrooms, but students may be grouped into classes with three combined grades.

In secondary school, virtual learning will be a mix of dedicated instruction and simultaneous learning, where a teacher instructs kids in-person and online at the same time. The TDSB notes that this will help kids foster a sense that they’re still being included in the educational and social life of their school.

Parents and students will have the option to change between in-person and virtual again in February 2022.

TDSB still working on some pandemic protocols

 “We are indeed making [schools] safer as much as we can,” said Bird. “With the increase in vaccinations, we hope that we’ll see many fewer cases appear in our schools in the weeks and months ahead.”

The school board is still working on guidelines for extra-curriculars and specialized classes, such as gym and music, including when children can be unmasked, and how sharing of instruments will work.

Even as the more-contagious Delta variant circulates in the city, many of the protocols the Ministry of Education and the board have already announced will be familiar to those returning to school.

“It’s nothing new really,” said Dr. Dubey of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s guidelines. “It’s what all of you COVID experts have been doing for the past year. It’s those layers of public health measures.”

The TDSB has also been working with Toronto Public Health on their health rules.

Bird adds while most precautions will be familiar to TDSB parents and students, “there will be some minor tweaks here and there” and they can be toughened up or removed depending on how the pandemic progresses.

The school board is going beyond some of the ministry baselines, opting for students in kindergarten to be masked, and keeping students in cohorts for recess.

Elementary students will also continue to eat lunch in their classrooms. The school board is also sticking to outdoor or virtual assemblies, even though the province is allowing in-person indoor events, notes Bird.

“We are taking a number of steps to ensure that school air is as clean and fresh as possible,” he added.

The board says all TDSB classrooms and other educational spaces have been equipped with HEPA filters, even if a school also have mechanical ventilation.

Schools with ventilation systems are also being tuned up, and all operable school windows have been inspected to ensure those meant to open actually work, making repairs when needed.

“We have vaccinations, which is new this year,” Dubey added, “But we still need to keep up with these layers of protection: screening, cleaning and disinfection, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, keeping students in cohorts, ventilation in classrooms, vaccinations and the use of vaccination policy.”                                                                                                                                       

Student vaccination rates nearing 80 percent

As of earlier this month, at least 78 per cent of Toronto kids aged 12 to 17 have gotten one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while at least 64 per cent have been fully immunized, data from Toronto Public Health shows. Dr. Dubey says while those numbers are promising, officials will keep working to increase the number of students who have their shots.

Toronto Public Health is operating youth vaccination clinics in 10 priority neighbourhoods, particularly in the northwest part of the city, in malls, community centres and schools.

“Some principals have been really, really instrumental in getting youth out to these clinics, and some of them have been really quite successful,” she said.

She also has a reminder for parents and guardians to get their shots. Of Torontonians aged 30 to 49, vaccination rates range from 75 to 78 per cent.

At the moment, Ontario students don’t have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend school, though they are required to be vaccinated against a list of other illnesses. Still, Dr. Dubey said, whether or not a student is vaccinated against COVID-19 will have a real impact on their learning should there be an outbreak at school.

“If someone is diagnosed with COVID and they may have exposed the cohort, only those who are unvaccinated need to be excluded,” she said. “If someone is vaccinated, as long as they don’t have symptoms, they can continue to attend school.”

She said that is why Toronto Public Health recommends the Ministry of Education put in place vaccine policies for not just school staff but students as well. Knowing whether a student is vaccinated will help with faster contact tracing in the event of an outbreak, she explains.

Bird says TDSB trustees were looking at implementing a schoolboard vaccine policy. They decided to hold off after Tuesday’s news that the Ministry of Education was coming up with its own plan, which has yet to be announced.

“We’re looking at the details now, waiting for some more, and then we can begin to inform our parents and staff,” he says.

 More school testing planned 

Last winter, Toronto school boards conducted voluntary testing at several schools a week, though critics said the efforts were not comprehensive enough.

Public health says more testing, including take-home kits, is planned for this year. SickKids, Women’s College and Michael Garron hospitals are leading the program.

“It will be used in situations where a case has been detected in a classroom, and to test individuals or the cohort,” says Nichole Welch, director of Toronto Public Health’s COVID-19 liaison, and chief nursing officer.

Everything the board and public health is doing to plan for schools is with a clear purpose in mind, says Dr. Dubey: “Our goal is to keep as many children as possible in school this coming year.”

TDSB COVID-19 policies by CityNewsToronto on Scribd

With files from David Zura