With speculations of the fourth wave of COVID-19 expected to hit, many are wondering what Canadian students will face. Depending on where students live can make it very different how their school board will handle this next wave. Public education advocate Annie Kidder of People for Education said “It feels as if we’re kind of waltzing back to school.”
Schools up north in the Yukon area aim to be “near normal” with some health and safety requirements. There will be mandatory masks on buses and in indoor school common areas, but they can be taken off in class. Physical distancing is still encouraged and field trips with proper safety measures will be permitted. The North West Territories will have similar restrictions but physical distancing is mandatory in classrooms Grade 7 and up.
Ontario is mandating masks for grades 1-12 inside all schools and buses as well as performing daily screening. The province will also have cohorts indoors, physical distancing for all elementary schools, and a vaccination disclosure policy for all school staff. Some schools have received ventilation improvements are being done. Assemblies will be permitted with singing and wind instruments as long as physical distancing and ventilation are applied. Field trips, extracurricular activities, visitors, the library, and the cafeteria will return.
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