Amidst a 4th wave, more Simcoe Muskoka students choose the classroom over virtual learning

Barrie, Ont. -

While we enter deeper into what experts call the 4th wave, only a small percentage of students chose virtual learning over learning in class.

The number of elementary students signed up for virtual learning in Simcoe Muskoka far outweighs secondary students.

The Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) said out of 51,000 total students, almost 2,325 students have chosen to learn virtually this year. Two thousand of those elementary students.

And the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB) is reporting that out of 21,000 total students, more than 660 students chose virtual learning. Four hundred sixty of those are elementary students.

The SCDSB asked parents to choose the 2021-2022 preferred learning mode before the end of the school year in June.

With just over two weeks before school begins, the SCDSB said requests to switch learning modes are not being accepted until the second semester in February. Families wishing to change streams may request asynchronous learning starting on August 30. Meaning teachers will maintain a digital classroom where students can check in for daily assignments, but they will not participate in real-time online classes.

At the start of the 2020-2021 school year, approximately 7,000 elementary students and 2,600 secondary school students participated in the public boards Learn@Home program, about 18 per cent of all SCDSB students.

The SCDSB and SMCDSB tell CTV News they are planning on releasing the back-to-school plans late next week.

VACCINATION LATEST

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) is working with schools to hold COVID-19 vaccination clinics in schools starting the last week of August and the first two weeks of September. The details on those clinics are yet to be announced.

Simcoe Muskoka's medical officer of health, Dr. Charles Gardner, said Tuesday that youth vaccinations are lagging. Seventy-two per cent of youth 12 to 17 years of age have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 55 per cent have received a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.

On Tuesday,  the province announced children born in 2009 are now eligible to be vaccinated.