The health unit announced elementary and secondary students will shift to online learning due to COVID19 Thursday
School boards in Windsor-Essex are ready for a quick transition after the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit announced a shift to online learning due to mounting COVID-19 numbers.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed announced the Section 22 Order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act Thursday afternoon that will see the closure of the schools Monday. Schools will head into Christmas break on Dec. 18, one week earlier than expected.
The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board wasn’t expecting today's decision but already had a plan in place, according to Director of Education Terry Lyons
"There was no dialog ahead of time, we were very surprised by this announcement just like everybody else but we'll adapt and pivot as we move forward and continue to do the best we can," he says.
Greater Essex County District school board spokesperson, Scott Scantlebury, says the public board was equally surprised by the news.
"We were prepared for it and once we were notified that the announcement was to be made, we were able to activate our contingency plan and quite quickly get everybody prepared for next week which will be online learning for all students," he added.
Lyons says the IT department at the catholic board is already hard at work distributing 750 devices to allow for online learning, but it will be a challenge to get a computer to everyone that needs one immediately.
"It's easy to say how many devices you need, but trying to purchase them at this time of year is not very easy," he says. "We've been waiting three months for our devices to even get here. We have more on the way but there's time lags everywhere due to COVID-19."
Scantlebury says the public board is doing its best to ensure everyone has the equipment they need.
"Our supply of technology has been really pushed to its limits, but we will do our utmost to make sure everybody gets what they need to be able to learn for the week," says Scantlebury.
Both boards are in the process of notifying parents and have already posted information on what's next to their websites.
— with files from AM800's Gord Bacon and Patty Handysides.