The director of education for the Lambton Kent District School Board says they're excited to have concrete knowledge about the status of the school year and are anxious to hear further details from the provincial government.
John Howitt spoke to BlackburnNews.com shortly after Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday that schools will not reopen until September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Knowledge of what the rest of the school year will look like will assist us with our planning," said Howitt. "We're also anxious for details about summer learning, so that we'll be able to communicate that to our communities as well as the protocols spoken about for September which will permit us to start planning as well."
Howitt said they're awaiting detail on summer learning for both high school and elementary students.
"There was mention in the announcement today of a focus on credit recovery, as well as credit accumulation. However there has been some learning for elementary students the last several years and we anticipate that there will be opportunities there as well."
Howitt said guidelines and protocols have been promised by the government by the end of June.
He said they have been getting a lot of questions from parents about the retrieval of student items left at school when they were suddenly closed in March.
"We're currently in the process of working with the St. Clair Catholic District School Board and the health units in both Lambton County and Chatham-Kent to determine a protocol so that our students can get their personal belongings that were left behind at the school," he said.
The board director said K to Grade 12 report cards will be issued at the end of June, but the method of delivery is still being worked out.
Howitt said there have been some challenges with the introduction of online learning including internet availability in rural areas.
"In some cases our senior secondary students have become the bread-earners for families, and are working 40-50 hours a week which makes their learning a challenge. That was one of the things we did not anticipate happening."
-With files from Melanie Irwin
