Public secondary students staying remote until Jan. 29

All Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high schools will continue remote learning until Jan. 29.

“We hope to start quadmester 3 on Feb. 1, subject to provincial direction and health guidelines,” the board's director of education Camille Williams-Taylor told parents in an update on Thursday.

OCDSB schools had been scheduled to return to in-person learning on Jan. 25. The province may extend that date, but its decision won't be made until Jan. 20.

“We know that secondary students and staff can't wait until then to know how the rest of the quadmester will work,” Williams-Taylor said.

During the pandemic, most high school students at the board have had their school year broken into four semesters called “quadmesters,” rather than the usual two semesters, taking two courses at a time instead of the usual four.

Most OCDSB high school students are nearing the end of quadmester 2. Students at Merivale and Colonel By secondary schools have had their year broken into eight “octomesters,” and are in octomester 4.

When secondary schools reopen forclasses, the one-course-perday schedule will resume, Williams-Taylor said.

“A change to the delivery model for the last five days of the term would be challenging for students and staff. Therefore, the OCDSB has decided that secondary students will finish this quadmester (Octomester 4 for Merivale and Colonel By secondary students) through remote learning,” she said.

The school board's elementary schools are tentatively scheduled to reopen for in-person learning on Jan. 25.

A spokeswoman for the Ottawa Catholic School Board said it was still planning for both elementary and secondary students to return on Jan. 25.