When do you think the border will reopen?

[ilovetotravel1977]

Also, if your child starts to show symptoms of being sick for ANYTHING, they will be home for 14 days until it passes. They will be able to continue schooling through online for that as well.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Yeah, good point. It's all up in the air of what changes school make going forward. And as you say, working online may be more of the norm.

Or, what if in order to keep social distancing in classrooms, they do shifts where half the class does one week in class, one week learn from home online? Then on the weekends, the classrooms can be thoroughly cleaned for the next group of kids to come in for Monday?

Adding: but then workplaces would have to be flexible for parents to be able to work from home the week of online learning. That would help keep offices spread out as well.

My sister manages the custodians for our local school board. It can be quite the undertaking keeping schools clean on a normal day!

 

[isabellea]

And as you say, working online may be more of the norm.

DH is working for Hydro-Quebec so they are an essential service and they were told they will be working from home until further notice. They currently have no plans for them to go back to the office buildings if not absolutely necessary. Right now he's working from the living room but we are starting to look at options on how to install him a more permanent office in the house. His job brings him to travel a lot (he supervise their suppliers quality control tests) and again, was told no traveling allowed until at least June, that include local travel. I really think working from home when possible will become the new normal for many companies. I work in research so difficult to do my experiment in my kitchen but for paperwork tasks, I will probably do them at home as much as possible in the future.

 

[isabellea]

Or, what if in order to keep social distancing in classrooms, they do shifts where half the class does one week in class, one week learn from home online? Then on the weekends, the classrooms can be thoroughly cleaned for the next group of kids to come in for Monday?

Adding: but then workplaces would have to be flexible for parents to be able to work from home the week of online learning. That would help keep offices spread out as well.

My sister manages the custodians for our local school board. It can be quite the undertaking keeping schools clean on a normal day!

Elementary schools start again in some regions in QC next week and the max of students per class will be 15 to allow proper distancing (more classes will be open if demand is there since return to school is not mandatory). Recess will be staggered so there are less kids in the corridors and outside. No music class, no PE and lunch will be at their desk. For those staying home, online learning will be increased and those that don't have a computer/tablet or wifi will be helped by the government. I assume that will stay for next fall for the kids that cannot go back for health reasons and for those that are quarantined.

 

[MamaLema]

When the border re-opens, it will give the green light for people to travel to the country with the most cases and deaths. What could go wrong?

 

[hdrolfe]

I work for the Federal Government, critical services for my agency, so we are working from home, and have been setting up many others to do so as well, even the call centres, most are now at home taking calls. I don't think there are any plans to change that. More and more people who are not critical are being set up to work from home as well, they are going to a lot of effort to make that happen, people have to arrange appointments to go in to pick up work stations and get set up. I imagine this will continue for us until at least the fall, and if things have a second wave, then longer.

I work in the kitchen right now but am also thinking I need a better set up. I thank goodness I brought my mouse home with the laptop! I cannot use the touch pad lol. But I also miss my two screens. And my chair. I need to get a good chair for sure. And perhaps a better space to have my "office".

As for the border and isolation when returning, I think we'll have to wait an see. If the US opens their side of the border and we don't (and I don't believe they will without discussions and agreement on both sides), then yes, I imagine whoever returns to Canada from such a trip would have to isolate. But if we open our side as well, I don't think it will happen. I can perhaps picture it from certain "hot spots" much like Florida is doing at the moment.

 

[Silvermist999]

Our school board sent out an email to high school parents recently advising them that they are aware of valuable items left behind in school lockers over March break (fortunately my daughter took home her clarinet but forgot her almost new Nikes in her locker). They are now working with public health to figure out whether to allow students to retrieve items before the end of June. So for those in Ontario wondering if schools will reopen before the end of the school year, based on this email, looks like it won’t.

 

[hdrolfe]

Our school board sent out an email to high school parents recently advising them that they are aware of valuable items left behind in school lockers over March break (fortunately my daughter took home her clarinet but forgot her almost new Nikes in her locker). They are now working with public health to figure out whether to allow students to retrieve items before the end of June. So for those in Ontario wondering if schools will reopen before the end of the school year, based on this email, looks like it won’t.

We ordered "spirit clothes" right before March break... I wonder if we'll ever get that! Hopefully it will still fit him if we do. At least he remembered to bring home his chromebook and indoor shoes when he came home for March Break. He forgot the cord for the chromebook but I was able to pick that up when they were in the process of handing out chromebooks for the learn from home stuff.

Interesting though, I assume most school boards will be sending similar messages.

 

[mshanson3121]

Yes, I would expect the mandatory 14 day quarantine to remain as well. But I don't know if it's going to be as big of an impact as it was at the beginning of all of this. First off, that would mean retirees would be able to cross (though, those with an pre-existing conditions shouldn't be crossing) without much impact. They're not affected with needing to miss work, as they don't rely on work for their income. Secondly, anybody who can work from home, also wouldn't be affected much. There are those of us, like myself, who had this freedom even before the stay at home orders came in, and there are also those who've had that ability opened up to them. For instance, my Sis-in-law works in school administration. Before this all, her working from home would have been unheard of, but now, she's doing the majority of her job from her house. The infrastructure's been put in place, the working arrangements have been put in place, and the means to continue working from quarantine have increased for many people.

It's only those who don't have the options to work from home, like some of my family that works in various automotive factories/supplier factories, who would have to take the 14 days off work, but that number of people isn't as large as it was at the start of all this. Still pretty significant, but still, not as large.

No, but that number will get larger again, and soon - well before the border opens back up. Businesses and stores are starting to open back up. This work from home thing isn't going to last that long for most people. The majority of jobs out there aren't ones that are conducive to working from home.

 

[mshanson3121]

All depends on what the schools do. I could see this home-schooling approach become part of the new normal, where the kids will be able to quarantine, but still provide their work via their assignments. Our board here uses Edsby, and it seems to be working well for that. They can see assignments per class, upload their work per class, get feedback on marks per class, they have open communication through the messaging system with their teachers for any questions, clarifications, etc... The only thing they'd be missing is school interactions, and any of the lectures.

And those with tech restrictions, like lack of access to the internet, probably wouldn't have the subsided help they're getting now, so yes, those parents probably wouldn't want to travel and then have their kids out of school, but I believe some might. I'll admit it's not ideal, but it's a possibility I can see coming. We'll have to wait for the schools to re-open to know how they're planning on dealing with it though.

It's definitely not going to be the new normal. It's temporary. It's not a sustainable approach for education for many, many reasons.

 

[mkmommy]

This may have already been answered. I don't know if the federal government is monitoring travel, but yes, you can be turned away. In New Brunswick, all non-essential travel is being turned away at the border (including, Quebec, PEI, Nova Scotia and Maine)

I have heard that communities up on Lake Huron and Lake Erie have hired security/OPP to limit access to their communities to only permanent residents and not seasonal property owners.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Our school board sent out an email to high school parents recently advising them that they are aware of valuable items left behind in school lockers over March break (fortunately my daughter took home her clarinet but forgot her almost new Nikes in her locker). They are now working with public health to figure out whether to allow students to retrieve items before the end of June. So for those in Ontario wondering if schools will reopen before the end of the school year, based on this email, looks like it won’t.

They could let only grade 12s and those leaving the system to make appointments to get their stuff out of their lockers over a week period. Everyone else waits until Sept. Or, they could invest in the money to just mail everyone their stuff from their lockers. I wonder what things they'll find that are actually contraband?

 

[Kaadk]

They could let only grade 12s and those leaving the system to make appointments to get their stuff out of their lockers over a week period. Everyone else waits until Sept. Or, they could invest in the money to just mail everyone their stuff from their lockers. I wonder what things they'll find that are actually contraband?

It can easily be done with scheduled access, either one student or one family at a time, supervised at a social distance, to make sure they only access the lockers and get out with minimal interaction with the school. Might take all summer with the larger schools though...

A better approach would be to allow families to choose to whether to retrieve items or not, and providing the school the rights to discard the student's belongings if the family agrees.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I've been a fly on the wall for this discussion but have what I know is a very valid point regarding the Ontario schooling situation. We're ignoring the ssegments of our communities that either have marginal or no access to internet, reliable or not! A very close friend, essentially my sister, is a principal for a school that is deep in the middle of mennonite country and most if not all of her students have zero access to online teaching, some don't even have power!!! She goes into her school twice a week to coordinate the transfer of paperwork, teachers to students then back again for marking using the bus drivers as the transportation links. It's tedious and far less than ideal when dealing with a community that barely tolerates a government run education system.
then there's our northern communities where they're still struggling with dial up connections! It's nearly impossible for those families to juggle school work, office work and entertainment needs.

 

[mshanson3121]

As far as getting stuff out of the schools, they're opening schools up here (NB) today and tomorrow to allow students time to access their stuff. The schools are open 9-3, and people will be allowed in in guided groups to grab their stuff.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I must say, I am liking this website! https://news.paxeditions.com/

Some new cleaning procedures for Air Canada:

https://news.paxeditions.com/news/a...ncare-means-new-measures-come-effect-may-15th

 

[ottawamom]

They could let only grade 12s and those leaving the system to make appointments to get their stuff out of their lockers over a week period. Everyone else waits until Sept. Or, they could invest in the money to just mail everyone their stuff from their lockers. I wonder what things they'll find that are actually contraband?

I hate to think of all the rotting lunches sitting in some lockers . My three sons were terrible about keeping their lockers clean. The garbage that came home at year end was gross...

Those lockers need to be cleaned out before summer or there may be another natural disaster on our hands.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Ours schools here (Manitoba) did a locker cleanup a couple weeks ago.
Procedures were different with middle and high school. It was quite the process.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

the schools here did a locker clean out. They had it all set out in certain areas, and set it up that parents came at specified times that they could set up...they were asked to come into the school...go directly to the spot where their child's items were and immediately leave the school. I was amazed at their speed at getting this done in our school district. Within 2 weeks of our schools closure, I already had an email asking me to select a time slot to pick up any items. I know many friends were posting on FB about picking up their little ones items.

I have to say, that I am amazed at our whole school district where we live. Within two weeks, our teachers were rolling out assignments and had adapted their cirriculums through goggle classrooms. They have set up times that they are available everyday that the kids can video chat with them to receive any help that they need. This is high school. I do know that it took a little longer for the elementary schools...but it didn't take that much longer.

They also asked, that if ANYONE knew of someone who didn't have access to internet or a computer or tablet, the school was setting those students up with school ones that they could sign out. So that the students could get their assignments completed. This is going to take faith on their part, that their equipment will be returned in working order when this is all over. But they have really tried to reach out and make sure every student receives what they need. I'm just soooo amazed at their dedication to this!!!!!...alright...i gotta get back to work now lol

 

[FigmentSpark]

Did you guys get an email about locker cleanout? I know I haven't (in Ontario), but then we're only 'scheduled' to be off school until May 31.

Also, I'm not sure my HS teens will want be picking through their things from their lockers, lol.