Students in Hamilton, Guelph and Waterloo Region are among those who will be returning to their classrooms on Monday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced.
The public health units for Brant County, Halton, Hamilton, Huron Perth, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and Waterloo Region were among the many in which children will be back inside a classroom.
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“Following the best medical advice, with the clear support of both Ontario’s and the local Medical Officers of Health, we are reopening schools across the province knowing that we have taken additional steps and made additional investments to better protect our students and staff,” Lecce stated.
“Nothing is more important than returning kids to school safely because it is crucial for their development, mental health, and future success.”
A good portion of the province’s health units have now been cleared to return to in-class learning. Toronto, York and Peel regions are alone in having to wait longer.
On Monday, Lecce announced that Ontario had allocated $341 million of federal funding to school boards to bolster COVID-19 safety.
The funding is to be used for a variety of measures including to hire more cleaning staff, buy personal protective equipment and enhance air filtration in schools.
The province also provided more details on its previously announced plan to introduce asymptomatic school testing across the province.
We want all students in all regions back to class.
The Chief Medical Officer of Health confirmed to Premier @fordnation & I that on Wednesday he will finalize his advice.
The Government will provide certainty parents deserve by announcing on Wednesday the dates for reopening.
— Stephen Lecce (@Sflecce) February 1, 2021
That night, Lecce announced that Ontario’s chief medical officer of health David Williams would provide his advice on when schools were to reopen on Wednesday.
Students who are in the in-person learning stream in the affected areas have not been inside a classroom since the Christmas break began.
On Boxing Day, at the same time as the province announced a provincewide lockdown, it also said schools across the province would remain closed for an extra week after the break ended.
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Those students were expected to return to in-person learning on Jan. 11. Lecce reiterated that in a letter to parents on Jan. 4, but shifted gears three days later when he announced that a good portion of southern Ontario schools would continue remote learning until Jan. 25.
Then, late in the afternoon on Jan. 20, the province announced that students in much of southern Ontario would not be allowed to return to classrooms the following Monday.
The following day, the province told affected school boards that students would not return to classrooms until Feb. 10.
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There are a total of 34 public health units across the province. Here is a breakdown of which are already open and when the others are expected to open:
- 18 already open: Algoma, Eastern Ontario, Grey Bruce, Haliburton-Kawartha-Pine Ridge, Hastings Prince Edward, Kingston-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington, Leeds-Grenville-Lanark, Middlesex-London, North Bay-Parry Sound, Northwestern, Ottawa, Peterborough, Porcupine, Sudbury and districts, Renfrew County, Southwestern, Thunder Bay, Timiskaming.
- Open Feb. 8: Brant County, Chatham-Kent, Durham Region, Haldimand- Norfolk, Halton Region, Hamilton, Huron Perth, Lambton, Niagara, Simcoe-Muskoka, Waterloo Region, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, Windsor-Essex.
- Open Feb. 16: Toronto, Peel, York