Officials from the public and Catholic school boards in Chatham-Kent are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to students returning to class after the Christmas break.
St. Clair Catholic District School Board Education Director Scott Johnson said students were not told to take their devices home last week prior to their two-week holiday. He said the school boards are anticipating a return to classrooms on January 3, 2022, unless otherwise stated by the provincial government.
“If students do not return in January, then we will pivot,” he said. “If we have to support technology deployments at that time, then we will do so but we think doing so before we have any direction might be premature at this time. And it might send the wrong message to parents as well.”
Some school boards in nearby regions have told students to take their home belongings in case schools are closed due to surging COVID-19 cases across the province
However, Lambton-Kent District School Board Education Director John Howitt said if schools are closed, local educators would use the first one or two days following the break to connect with students and families to ensure they have what they need to transfer to online learning.
He said telling students that they may be returning to school in the new year would cause needless worrying.
“Schools are a place of stability for our students,” said Howitt. “We really wanted to avoid the unintended consequence of raising anxieties [about] something that may or may not come into place. But until we know for sure, we chose not to have students bring home their devices.”
As of Friday afternoon, there were six COVID-19 outbreaks at schools within Chatham-Kent.