At least one Sault and area school board is well equipped with personal protective equipment and ready to welcome students back to in-class learning, hopefully later this month.
Ontario school boards have been promised by the provincial government that educators will be provided with N95 masks and schools fitted with high efficiency particulate air filters (more commonly known as HEPA filters) to cut down on the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
“In terms of HEPA units, the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board is in very good shape. The areas and classrooms that are supposed to have these units in them are already appropriately outfitted, and we have several additional units in storage in case one or more of them require maintenance or replacement,” said Rose Burton Spohn, H-SCDSB director of education in an email Thursday.
“Where N95 masks are concerned, our supply arrived at the board today and individual schools will begin to receive their allotments tomorrow,” Burton Spohn said.
Algoma District School Board (ADSB) officials were not available for comment Thursday.
Educators with southern Ontario school boards are concerned that they don't have N95 masks to wear (some of them are educational assistants working with students with disabilities who are not able to wear masks or socially distance) and that some schools don't yet have additional HEPA filters.
The Ontario government announced Jan. 3 that students would not return to classrooms after the Christmas break as scheduled Jan. 5 due to concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant.
Students are currently learning remotely, not allowed to return to in class learning until Jan. 17 at the earliest.