The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board has announced their back to school plans.
Details were outlined in a virtual parents information session Wednesday night.
Parents must complete an online survey to let the board know if their child will be returning to in person classes or participating in remote virtual learning.
Director of Education Sherri-Lynne Pharand says parents that do not complete the survey will be contacted, so the board can best prepare all of their schools.
The survey is available on the school boards website and social media.
Superintendent of Education, Shannon Bailey said in the session that students in grades 4-12 will be required to wear cloth face masks on school property, including hallways and classrooms.
Student’s Grade 3 and under are not required to wear masks, but they can if they choose to do so.
Schools will be supplying face masks and sanitizer, but students can also bring their own.
It was also announced that there will be four semesters in the 2020-2021 school year for secondary students.
Students will take two courses per semester, for a total of eight courses completed.
For in person learning, days will consist of one class in the morning, a lunch break, followed by their second course in the afternoon.
Superintendent of Education, Jane Lower explains:
“A quad-mester system reduces the number of student transitions and therefore the number of direct and in direct contacts.”
Remote online learning will consist of independent work as well as instructional learning from their teacher.
Teachers and staff will be supplied the proper personal protective equipment, as all teachers will be required to wear face masks.
Other PPE will be required, only when physical distancing is not possible, including for Special Education staff.
Face masks with clear mouth spaces are being considered to assist students who are hearing impaired.
KPDSB’s number one priority is the health and safety of their students and staff.
The board notes they are also following the Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health recommendations, as it’s an ever-changing situation.
KPDSB also says there will be designated dates to transition from one learning format to the other.
For more information, you can watch the full parent information session on KPDSB’s YouTube channel here.
The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board has also provided additional information:
KPDSB Guide for Reopening Schools
Today we released a Guide for Reopening For Families for the 2020-2021 school year. To view the guide on our website, please click here. Please note that the information included in this guide is subject to change. We are aware of recent announcements made this afternoon and once the impact of today’s announcements are understood, we will update the guide accordingly and share any changes or updates with families.
KPDSB Information Session for Families Recording
Thank you to the families who were able to join us for our information session last night, we hope it helped to answer some of your questions. For those who were not able to join live, you can watch the session recording by clicking here.
Completing the Return to School Survey for Families
Families are reminded to please complete our Return to School Survey for Families by Monday, August 17, 2020, to let us know if your child will be attending in-person or remotely in September. For families in the Red Lake area, if you have not yet completed the survey, you will be given more time and are not expected to complete the survey by August 17. What is important right now is that you are safe. We will share more details with our Red Lake area families next week.
School Bus Transportation for the 2020-2021 School Year
The Northwestern Ontario Students Services Consortium, which provides school bus transportation for all of our schools, has recently released information for families with regards to school bus transportation. To view the information on their website, please click here.
