Ontario Expects To Have Answers Next Week On What March Break Will Look Like For Students
Students can expect to know what March Break in Ontario will look like this year as of next week.
Stephen Lecce, Ontario's education minister, states that the government is currently getting an expert opinion on the fate of the holiday.
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Our government is going to continue to listen to the science. We will communicate it well in advance of March Break.
Stephen Lecce
In an interview with CP24, the minister stated that he has consulted with the chief medical officer of health to see if students should remain in class over the break.
"The decision is going to be based exclusively on public health imperatives," Lecce states.
"At the end of the day, people should not be travelling, we are encouraging people to stay in this province and stay in their communities. We know about these new variants we do not want to bring more of them into our province."
He expects to have an answer by next week and states that it will be communicated before the holiday, currently scheduled for March 15-19 in the GTA.
The announcement comes a week after Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, medical officer of health for Eastern Ontario, called for a cancellation of March Break.
The doctor argues that keeping kids in schools will help contain COVID-19 case numbers that could spread over the holiday.
The move would help to limit kids from travelling and not staying at home during the break.
"Unless kids stay home and parents keep them home during spring break and don't mix with others then that's not going to be a problem," he stated.