As I write this post, I just finished the This Week in Ontario Edublogs show on voicEd Radio. One of the topics of discussion with Stephen Hurley was about school for next week.
As we know, students were encouraged to clean out desks and take things home before the Christmas Break lest a Plan B, schools no reopening in January, be needed. We’ve seen the huge rise in COVID testing numbers recently.
Less than half an hour ago, this was posted to the Windsor Star website.
Ontario reports new daily record of COVID-19 cases
The following was just posted to Windsor Regional Hospital’s Instagram account.
As they say, stuff’s getting real.
It’s Wednesday and schools across the province are scheduled to reopen for teachers and students next Monday.
Stephen Hurley and I chatted about this on the show and we used the term “Trickle down effect” with all of the stakeholders who are/might be affected come next week.
principals, vice-principals, teachers, teaching assistants, students, parents, child care providers, bus drivers, restaurants near secondary schools, …
The million dollar question is “Will schools be open next week.” We still don’t know; we’re waiting for the official message from Toronto.
According to CityNews, there is a meeting to discuss this on Thursday morning.
Ontario opposition leaders call for clarity on back-to-school plan amid Omicron spread
The return to school after the Christmas Break is always an exciting time. Students get to reconnect after two weeks away and there’s the excitement that comes with how they shared their holiday time, no matter what holiday they’re celebrating.
For teachers, it’s a time to reload and re-evaluate what needs to be covered before the end of semester. I always found that I needed to kick up things a bit.
Higher education around here have made their announcements in plenty of time.
University of Windsor to resume classes on January 17
St. Clair Collge will resume classes on January 17
That may not be the message people want to hear but at least it’s a message that’s out in the public so that people can make plans.
For publically funded K-12 schools, everyone is sitting and waiting for the message. It’s more than just a no or no-go. No-go pushes back everything. Go means another look at classrooms, controls, numbers, etc. It’s not a winning situation for anyone.
There seems to be a third option though. Don’t do anything. It seems to me that this is the worst of all options.
Like everyone else, I’m in anticipation of the announcement and the impact that it will have.
doug --- off the record 