{"id":26567,"date":"2020-05-21T14:45:42","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T18:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=26567"},"modified":"2020-05-28T19:23:53","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T23:23:53","slug":"schools-to-remain-closed-for-rest-of-academic-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/schools-to-remain-closed-for-rest-of-academic-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools to remain closed for rest of academic year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Students in Ontario will not be returning\nto the classroom to finish off the school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced\nTuesday that keeping schools closed for the rest of this school year will help protect\nthe health and safety of students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This decision was based on advice from the\nChief Medical Officer of Health, health officials on the COVID-19 Command\nTable, and medical experts at The Hospital for Sick Children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur plan is about ensuring students\nremain safe from COVID-19 and ensure that they remain learning while at home,\u201d\nsaid Minister Lecce on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by Premier Doug Ford and\nDeputy Premier Christine Elliott, MPP for Newmarket-Aurora. \u201cAs students remain\nat home, we have strengthened our Learn at Home program and our expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to recognize those educators who\nhave stepped up to support students and I know many parents and some students\nhave been clear to the government that they want to see this type of support\nbeing more consistent. [That] is why we continue to insist on the\nstandardization of live, dynamic learning, also known as \u2018synchronous\nlearning\u2019, that help give your children a sense of community with their\neducators and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have also seen firsthand how powerful\nthis interaction can be. In this tough circumstance, we have to give students\nthat sense of community, that face-to-face real-time experience where teachers\ninteract by voice and video with their students, the opportunity to see their peers,\nchallenge assumptions, to learn new skills, using the best technology available\nto us. It makes the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the government is\nplanning for the reopening of schools for the 2020-21 school year, the gradual\nreopening of child care and the opening of summer day camps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will never waver from our commitment\nto keep your child safe, while learning at home,\u201d said Minister Lecce. \u201cOur\nplan will ensure students receive the best educational experience, both inside\nand outside the classroom during this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Premier Ford: \u201cNothing is more\nimportant than protecting our kids in this province, bar none over anything.\n[The announcement] gives parents certainty, knowing that their children can\ncontinue to learn safely at home and that we have a plan for child care as we\nwork to gradually reopen more of our economy, when it is safe to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All students who were on track to graduate\nfrom secondary school before the initial school closure order was made in March\nwill be able to graduate, and all students will receive report cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the summer, the government will\nannounce a plan to strengthen learning and safety protocols to enable students\nand staff to return to in-class instruction for the 2020-2021 school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That plan will be bolstered by an enhanced\nprovince-wide virtual learning program that will allow all students to learn,\nregardless of the challenges that may transpire in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private schools, licensed child care\ncentres and EarlyON programs will also remain closed for the safety and\nprotection of children and families and staff through Stage 1 of the Framework\nfor Reopening the Province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emergency child care will continue to\noperate and provide support for health care and other frontline workers. A\ngradual reopening of child care is expected to begin as part of Stage 2, which\nwill use robust safety protocols for the safety of Ontario\u2019s youngest learners\nand their staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming trends in key public health\nindicators continue to improve, summer day camps, both indoor and outdoor, may\nbe permitted in July and August of this year with strict health and safety\nguidelines to be developed in partnership with local public health, the\nMinistry of Labour, and municipalities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overnight camps will not be permitted to\noperate in the summer of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Province also unveiled an expanded\nseven-point summer learning plan for Ontario students to ensure students have\nevery opportunity to continue their learning through the summer months. Summer\nlearning programs are being expanded to reach the most students in Ontario\nhistory, to ensure they remain on track to start the 2020-21 school year with\nthe confidence and knowledge required to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support at-home learning the government\nis leveraging all tools, resources, technologies, and services to assist school\nboards to deliver equitable and effective learning through access to technology\nand internet connectivity, especially for students in rural and remote parts of\nOntario. To help improve access to remote learning, Ontario is partnering with\n34 organizations and private businesses, along with school boards, to address\nkey needs among educators, students and their families during the COVID-19\noutbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students, Lecce said, have been able to\nmake the \u201cpivot\u201d\u2008to e-learning. He credits them, their\nteachers, teaching assistants and parents with embracing the technology.\nEveryone involved deserves credit for keeping students engaged and involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lecce noted Ontario is the most efficient\nby far of any province in the country in terms of online and virtual leaning.\nHe said it\u2019s a \u201cpowerful tool to bring people together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said e-learning is a strong \u201cback-stop\u201d\nto traditional education, not a replacement. It\u2019s proven to be an effective\ntool to complement education in these times of crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lecce said the provincial government has been pushing technology and online learning opportunities before the pandemic. This type of forum creates more course diversity.\\<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Mark Pavilons and Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students in Ontario will not be returning to the classroom to finish off the school year. Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced Tuesday that keeping schools closed for the rest of this school year will help protect the health and safety of students. This decision was based on advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6Uv","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-24 21:35:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}