THUNDER BAY – It’s a wait-and-see game for students at Thunder Bay schools.
Trustees and administration at both Lakehead Public Schools and the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board have yet to be officially informed when classrooms in the city may reopen for in-person learning.
Francis Veneruz, chair of the Catholic Board’s board of trustees, on Friday said it’s frustrating being left in the dark, but added the decisions to allow students and teachers to return to the classroom comes from other levels of government.
“We take all our direction from the ministry of education and public health. Right now I think the confusion was that May 3 was the original date that we were supposed to go back and then it got extended to May 20,” Veneruz said.
“Up to this point, we haven’t heard anything.”
Students in Thunder Bay, with the exception of some special needs children, have been learning at home since March 1, but were scheduled to go back to class on April 19, after the belated spring break. However, Premier Doug Ford’s government scuttled those plans, announcing all schools in Ontario would be closed indefinitely as case counts exploded in southern Ontario.
Dr. Janet DeMille, the medical officer of health at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, at the time expressed disappointment, having already given the OK for in-person schooling to resume.
Veneruz said he’s holding out hope the board will get some news about the future of in-class learning this school year in the next couple of weeks.
It doesn’t make things any easier.
“It is frustrating and I think it’s frustrating for everyone,” he said. “I feel our parents have been very understanding. We haven’t had too many inquiries because they think our staff is keeping them informed.
“I know as soon as we do hear any information we’ll be more than happy to share it with the public.”
Ellen Chambers, chair of the Lakehead Public School Board’s board of trustees, reiterated whether or not to send kids back to class is not a decision that can be made at the school board level.
“It is the health unit’s decision and I think it’s always in conjunction with the chief medical officer of health in Toronto. Our numbers are down. However it’s been made very clear in several conversations I’ve had … that the huge concern right now is the ICUs all over Ontario,” Chambers said.
“Our hospital is now taking COVID patients from southern Ontario.”
The rise in variants of concern cases is also ringing alarm bells. There have been 27 in Thunder Bay, including 14 this week.
Chambers said she’s hopeful students return to schools before the end of the current school year, but can’t yet say with confidence they will.
“The likelihood depends on what’s going on around and about us,” she said, noting Thunder Bay tends to be about two weeks behind southern Ontario trends.
