The local public school board will review waitlists for methods of learning over the coming weeks as the first day of school quickly approaches.
The director of education for the Lambton Kent District School Board said about 650 students have opted to learn from home this year, 350 students at the elementary level and 300 at the secondary level.
John Howitt said enrollment in virtual learning is down compared to last year's roughly 3,200 students.
"Since the time for declaring interest, we have been gathering waitlists for families changing their minds, moving one way or the other," he said. "We're going to be taking a look at those waitlists to see if we can accommodate the shift or not and we'll be in touch with those families in the coming weeks."
Unlike last year, there will be no switching from in-person to virtual learning or vice versa. Howitt said that decision was made for a couple of reasons, one of which had to do with the instability of classes when students switched between learning methods.
"We know that transiency has a negative impact on academic outcome and well-being," he said. "Consistency will support our students in meeting their academic goals."
Howitt said the school board is also optimistic that programming this year will be more stable as vaccination rates increase.
Students who will learn from home during the upcoming school year will get learning devices back after they received updates and maintenance over the summer.
"Some of [the devices] had been 15 months without updates," said Howitt. "The program will be communicated to families who need devices, it's just being firmed up and schools will be in touch."
Devices that were not returned ahead of the summer can be dropped off once school offices open on August 30.
The LKDSB released its operating plan for the school year last week.
Meanwhile, the St. Clair Catholic District School Board has released its breakdown for student learning this fall.
A total of 105 Elementary students have opted for remote learning, while 6,042 will be in the classroom.
At the secondary level, 115 students will be learning remotely, and 2,469 have opted for in-person instruction.
-With files from Stephanie Chaves