Local education officials are awaiting delivery of masks and filtration systems in anticipation of brining staff and students back to school as soon as possible.
Students and teachers were shifted to remote learning after the winter break as cases of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant surged across the province.
The Ministry of Education has promised N95 masks for teachers and more HEPA filters for schools across Ontario to make classrooms safer once face-to-face learning resumes.
Scott Johnson, director of education with the St Clair Catholic District School Board says unfitted N95 masks for teachers should be arriving today.
“We are also receiving additional HEPA filters, our board is receiving a total of 22 which will complement the HEPA filters we’ve already put into our system,” Johnson says. “Right now in our system, every class that does not have a high efficiency mechanical air filter has a HEPA filter in it, and every FDK classroom, even if it has a high efficiency mechanical air filter also has a HEPA filter unit.”
The Lambton Kent District School Board is expecting delivery of 31 additional HEPA filters, which Director John Howitt will compliment air filters already in place in every instructional space in schools across the district.
Howitt says one fly in the ointment will be the potential for absences in both students and staff.
“This is going to be new to us and we’re doing some planning around the potential for exhausting our occasional staff and temporary staff who support us during absenteeism,” Howitt explains. “There is a risk that we may be short-staffed and may have to make some alterations within schools that could include short-term closures based on staff shortages.”
Officials at both the St Clair and Lambton Kent District School Board say the additional time before returning to face-to-face learning should allow staff and students to get additional vaccinations, either second or booster shots.
