Toronto, May 20: In the latest message today about the plan for September, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) intends to provide some further clarity for secondary school students, staff and families to help answer some of the questions they have been receiving.

For such, relating to quadmesters, the direction TDSB are following is from the Ministry of Education which has stated to all school boards as follows: “In secondary schools, school boards are to adopt secondary timetabling methods that emphasize cohorting of students as much as possible and to limit the number of student-to-student contacts. School boards will be required to limit schedules to two in-person classes, such as, quadmestering with exceptions for schools where contacts can be limited by cohorting grades or if the overall size of the school is small, making contact tracing manageable.”

The TDSB recognizes that some students experienced challenges with the model, while others preferred it. However, it will continue to explore ways to improve the model that was used this year, to better meet the needs of all students. It is currently planning for all in-person students to be attending school each and every day beginning in September 2021. But, if the Ministry changes direction, TDSB will certainly revisit these decisions.

As a reminder, students and their families will be receiving selection forms for in-person or virtual learning in mid-August when families will have up-to-date information on the status of the pandemic and vaccinations for school staff and students, and will be in a better position to make an informed decision.

The TDSB is hopeful that as the number of COVID cases continues to decline, with the accelerated pace of vaccinations, it will be in a much better situation in the fall with almost everyone back in in-person learning, however TDSB must plan based on the current environment. Similarly, if there is any update or change, it will certainly everyone know as soon as possible.