When a lot of parents across the province heard education minister Steven Lecce had called a news conference at Queens Park Monday they thought the back to school order was coming.
They were way off base, as were most of us.
Lecce announced more testing and a search for more teachers.
This so called targeted testing will be available in all public health units where the students have returned.
They said they expect the province to reach 25,000 tests a week at some point.
But the back to school order for all will have to wait.
“ The short answer is we hope to be able to provide that clarity to parents based on the advice of the Medical Officer of Health, that analysis is being done in real time. The position of the government is that we want to get this right, we want to keep kids in class so schools don’t have to open and close, which is why we have taken a more cautious approach of opening those public health units with lower rates of community transmission. To get these kids back, to build confidence , and to make sure those measures are in place.”
Also as a way to fill the many teacher vacancies they will allow student teachers to fill the roles.
They must be in a current program and have successfully completed a portion of the class.
The next wave of students is scheduled to return February 10th and all Lecce would say is he is hopeful all students will be back as soon as it’s safe.
