The RCCDSB has recommended a revised school year calendar that begins the school year with 3 professional activity days to provide staff time to train for enhanced safety protocols related to COVID-19. The number of instructional days for pupils for school year 2020-21 remains the same as any other year (See the Draft 2020-21 School Calendar).
The Board continues to wait for further direction from the province regarding the school year and how many students will be permitted in school buildings and in classes. The Board continues to plan for 3 possibilities:
- normal school-day routine with enhanced public health protocols
- modified school-day routine based on smaller class sizes, cohorting and alternative day or week delivery – at this time this model considers students attending 2 days one week and three days the next with a maximum of 15 students in any class at any one time
- at-home learning with ongoing enhanced remote delivery
Particularly with regard to Model B, the modified school-day routine, the Board will continue to work very closely with the Renfrew County District Board, the Renfrew County District Health Unit and the Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium on the best and safest way to deliver instruction.
The Board continues to be hopeful that a regional approach allowing as many students as possible to safely engage in face-to-face learning as often as possible will be permitted.