By Cecilia Nasmith
Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP welcomes the news from Education Minister Stephen Lecce that in-person learning is to resume for Northumberland and Peterborough students next week.
“On the advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the government is allowing seven public health units and over 100,000 students to return to class on Monday, January 25,” Piccini announced.
“Getting students back into class is our top priority. According to Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and leading medical and scientific experts, including the Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario’s schools are safe places for learning.”
Locally, Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Gemmill seemed to agree with that. At this week's media scrum, he stated that any positive cases among children that were uncovered when schools were open typically came from community contacts rather than schools.
To ensure schools remain safe, the government is introducing additional measures including province-wide targeted asymptomatic testing, enhanced screening, as well as mandatory masking for students in Grades 1-3 and outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained.
Based on the most recent data and the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, elementary and secondary schools in the Peterborough Public Health Unit and Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit catchment area will be permitted to resume in-person learning on Jan. 25. This applies to most schools in the following school boards: Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir, and Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Centre-Est de l’Ontario.
“We have consistently heard from parents in Northumberland – Peterborough South that they were anxious to have their school-aged children return to school,” Piccini said in the announcement.
“Parents wanted the certainty of the school structure during this time of uncertainty. The positive mental-health aspects for these children to be able to see their friends in a safe learning environment cannot be understated. Mental health is part of your overall health.
“We believe that the diligence that our community has shown in the fight against COVID-19 will continue once school resumes, and we will continue to observe the Stay at Home order before and after school,” Piccini said.
To support families during this period, child care will remain open and available for non-school-aged children across the province.
Where elementary schools continue to be closed for in-person learning, before- and after-school programs continue to be closed and prohibited from charging parent fees. Emergency child care will be extended in the regions impacted to support health-care workers and other essential workers who need it during this period.
To support students facing mental-health difficulties, the province has announced an additional and immediate $10-million from its Phase 2 Federal funding allocation to support student mental health and expand access to services in both rural and urban communities. This funding builds on the province’s investment of more than $32.- million in student mental health since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This investment supports up to 475 additional staff to support student mental health and complements the addition of 625 school-based public-health nurses and expanded mental health education.
In addition, direct financial supports through Ontario's Support For Learners program remains open through Feb. 8.
