January 13th, 2021

We want to provide WRDSB families with further information regarding the declaration of a second provincial emergency and the most recent direction from the Ministry of Education.

• By January 20, 2021, the Chief Medical Officer of Health will advise the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with local public health units, which school boards will resume in-person instruction, based on the most up-to-date data and modelling.
  • At this time, WRDSB students enrolled in the in-person model of learning are scheduled to return to in-person learning on January 25, 2021.
• In the interim, schools will continue to be open for in-person instruction for students with complex special education needs and those staff who support them.
• Purpose built Child Care Centres located in schools for children 0 to 4 remain open during this time. During this period of remote learning, Emergency Child Care for school aged children will continue to be offered to eligible essential workers, including education workers who are required to work in schools.
• We are fully prepared to support continued remote learning for our students in the event of a decision to continue the closure of schools.
• We will continue to provide updates to families as clearly as possible based on the direction provided by the Ministry of Education.

These are deeply challenging times and they impact us as individuals and our school communities. We want to acknowledge how difficult it is for everyone to continue to navigate the shifting directions in the context of uncertainty. We will communicate openly, transparently and in a timely manner in the hope that, by sharing what we know as soon as we can, it will ease some of the anxiety we know everyone is experiencing. We continue to be profoundly grateful for the collective spirit of care the WRDSB community is showing.