School boards, parents, and students in Lambton-Kent are in limbo waiting for provincial direction on whether students will return to school for in-person learning or stay at home and continue with online classes.
Director of Education of the St. Clair Catholic District School Board Deb Crawford said the province is currently reviewing the rise in COVID-19 cases and community spread before they put conditions in place to allow students to return to class and everybody is waiting for an answer.
Director of Education of the Lambton-Kent District School Board John Howitt said his school board is prepared for whichever outcome but hopes for a return to face to face learning before the end of the school year.
"We'll continue to provide the best programming possible in a remote setting while following Ministry of Education and public health advice," said Howitt.
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said students will do much better in a classroom learning environment, but added not all medical officers of health agree with returning them to school.
"The situation with variants constantly changing the landscape is very hard to predict," said Colby. "There are 34 medical officers of health and they don't sing as a choir always but we do try and reach a consensus."
Colby said he has not seen or heard any information that a decision to return to in-person learning is imminent.
Although there are still many unknowns about a return to school in September, the local school boards have started planning. At the public school board, families interested in registering their child for virtual learning for the 2021-2022 school year had to register by April 21, 2021.