Ontario prefers in-class return for students but safety first, minister says

TORONTO Millions of Ontario students could return to schools this September if it’s safe to do so, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said Thursday, acknowledging that shrinking COVID-19 case counts might make the resumption of inclass learning possible.

Lecce said during the province’s daily pandemic briefing that since the government announced its multi-pronged school reopening plan last month, COVID-19 numbers have declined, prompting a shift in thinking.

The shift comes weeks after the province told school boards to prepare for an array of options, including a return to regular classroom learning, online learning or a combination of the two.

“The preference of the government continues to be everyday, day-to-day, conventional in-class delivery,” Lecce said. “But the prerequisite has to be safety.”

Schools across the province have been closed since March 13, when the government moved to shut down much of the province to address the spread of COVID-19.

Premier Doug Ford said last month that with different areas of the province at different stages of reopening, the same should apply to school boards, so there won’t be a one-size-fits-all approach in schools.

Lecce said at the time he expected all students to start September with a “blended” model that would see no more than 15 students in class at a time, attending on alternating days or weeks.

He said Thursday that while the government wants to have all students in class, health officials must approve.

While cases appear to be on the decline across Ontario, he added, the province must be prepared for any potential spike in the fall.

“Over the past three weeks since we made that announcement, we’ve seen a significant reduction in the amount of cases of COVID in Ontario,” Lecce said.

“The reason why we have a plugand-play scenario of three different plans is because we need to be ready because we do not know what will happen in August.”

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said he understands the desire of working parents to have a definitive answer on schools for September.

But it’s hard to know where the province’s COVID-19 case count will be next month, he said.

“If we’re going to go with one scenario ... how would that be done in such a way that we would be convinced it was containable and safe, and at the same time, reassure parents, students and teachers?” he asked.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s effort to scrap “streaming” — an educational practice that historically has discriminated against students from marginalized communities — will get underway next fall, the province’s education minister said Thursday.

Lecce offered scant details about the plan, first announced earlier this week, to eliminate streaming for those entering high school. But he indicated the province’s math curriculum would be the first to do away with it.

The PC government said it was committed to addressing systemic discrimination by ending the practice, which currently forces Grade 9 students to commit to either an applied or academic course of study upon entering the secondary school system.

The practice of streaming has drawn criticism at home and abroad for decades, with opponents contending it disproportionately funnels Black and other racialized students into the applied stream, limiting their prospects and worsening inequity in the province’s education system.

Lecce didn’t say if or when other subjects would be “destreamed” officially, but said ending the practice for Grade 9 math marked the first step on the road to a more equitable education system.

“The facts are clear — students who are enrolled in applied courses are over four times less likely to graduate,” Lecce said at a news conference.