Students and teachers will be heading back to the classroom in just over a week, and local education officials want to reassure families they’re keeping safety top of mind.
John Howitt, Director of Education with the Lambton Kent District School Board, says there are two professional development days this week to get staff back up to speed on the latest COVID protocols.
“We will have all of our COVID-19 protocols in place and ready for a safe start to school,” Howitt says. “We’re also looking forward, however, to a return to some more normal activities as possible, things like potential of intermural or extracurriculars or interschool play, all done in a safe way of course.”
One thing that likely won’t be happening this fall is high school football, as only two schools have expressed an interest in playing.
Meantime, millions of dollars in provincial and federal funding have been pumped into schools across the region to help ensure the safety of staff and students heading back to the classroom next week.
At the St Clair Catholic District School Board alone, Director of Education Deb Crawford says roughly 7-million has been spent on ventilation upgrades.
“We’ve got new HVAC systems in our schools that had partial mechanical, we’ve upgraded the air filters, purchased and installed portable air conditioners and HEPA filters for our classrooms, kindergarten classrooms have additional HEPA filters as well,” Crawford explains. “As well, we’ve put in operable windows in all of our schools and workplaces that did not have operable windows.”
By the time classes resume next week, all boards will have ventilation details for each school posted online.
