Postponing March Break To Keep Schools Safe
In support of our collective efforts to keep schools safe, our PC government is postponing March Break until April 12-16, 2021.
This decision was made on the best advice of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and public health officials, including consultations with many local Medical Officers of Health.
To be clear, March Break is being postponed, not cancelled. Ontario is taking this precaution based on advice from health experts, including the province’s Science Table, and the Chief Medical Officer of Health to help protect against the emerging COVID-19 variants of concern. To keep schools open, we must keep them free of COVID-19.
Postponing March Break serves to limit opportunities for congregation – while reaffirming the evidence that schools are safe for students. By continuing to follow public health advice, and by introducing additional safety measures and more testing, we are supporting our collective efforts to keep COVID-19 from entering our schools.
To keep schools open, our government has instituted new measures to continue to protect students and staff against COVID-19 in the classroom, including:
- Increased provincewide access to targeted asymptomatic testing for students and staff;
- Mandatory masking requirement for students in Grades 1-12, and outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained;
- Providing 3.5 million high quality masks to schools as back-up supply for Grade 1-12 students;
- Guidance discouraging students and staff from congregating before and after school; and,
- Temporary certification of eligible teacher candidates who are set to graduate in 2021 to stabilize staffing levels.
These decisions like postponing March Break – based on the advice of medical experts – are never easy, but they are necessary to keep Ontario families safe.