Ontario Just Confirmed Which Schools Won't Be Reopening Until After Family Day

But some schools are opening as early as next week.

Staff Writer

The province's Minister of Education Stephen Lecce confirmed all of Ontario's back-to-school dates at a press conference on Wednesday.

And according to Lecce, students in Toronto, Peel, and York will have to wait until after Family Day before they go back to in-person learning.

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Ontario is ready to reopen our schools because it is safe. Stephen Lecce

According to Lecce, students in Windsor, Hamilton, and the remaining public health units will return to school on Monday, February 8.

But students in Toronto, Peel, and York will go back to in-person learning a week later on Tuesday, February 16.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Minister Lecce said that the reopening comes with the support of local medical officers of health and the province's chief medical officer of health.

And he said there are new COVID-19 guidelines in schools, include mandatory masks for Grades 1 and up, access to better masks, new guidance to stop staff congregating and targeted asymptomatic testing.

Lecce also told reporters that nearly 100% of all school ventilation systems have been checked by the province, and 95% of those have been improved.

According to Lecce, more than 520,000 students are back in schools as of Monday, February 1, as Ontario continued its process of reopening all schools in the province.