What happens if there's a COVID outbreak at local schools when class resumes in a couple of weeks?
How will that be handled? And how will people be notified?
School officials will have to wait a little longer for details around such protocols from the province.
During a local stop in Oro-Medonte Township on Thursday morning, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that plan is coming and will be thorough.
“We’ll be rolling that out on Friday," Ford told reporters. "We have a really in-depth one and are going by the advice of the chief medical officer of our health unit and from SickKids hospital. We’re just taking medical advice; they’re the experts and we aren’t.”
Earlier this week, Dr. Charles Gardner, the medical officer of health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, voiced concerns over the lack of information regarding a COVID plan should any students and/or teachers test positive for the virus when school resumes Sept. 8.
“Time grows short, I agree,” Gardner said Tuesday. “Ideally, we would have it now, if not, a little while in the past. The later it comes, the more challenging it is for us.”
Despite needing to see a plan for an outbreak scenario, Gardner said the health unit will still be able to do case-contact management in the interim.
Parents with children in the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic School Board (SMCSB) received an email on Wednesday stating they will have a staggered start back to school.
The staggered return will only affect elementary and secondary students who are planning to attend in-class learning.
The plan, to ensure smaller crowds, is based on grades starting Sept 8, with a full complement of students by Sept 11.
Students in senior kindergarten and Grades 1 to 3 students return will return on Tuesday, Sept. 8, followed the next day by pupils in Grades 4 to 6. Students in Grades 7 and 8 will head back to the classroom on Thursday, Sept. 10. Junior kindergarten students will start on Friday, Sept. 11.
For high school students, Grade 9 students will start on Tuesday, Sept 8, followed by Grade 10 students Sept. 9, Grade 11 students on Sept 10 and then Grade 12 students on Sept. 11.
The Simcoe County District School Board was holding a news conference this afternoon to release more details about its back-to-school plans.
