BREAKING: More Ontario regions given green light for schools to reopen, says Education Minister

Students in various regions of the province, including Ottawa and London, have been given the green light to return to class for in-person learning, a news release from Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce released Thursday said.

"On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, with the support of the local Medical Officers of Health, and with the introduction of additional layers of protection, 280,000 students in four public health regions will return to class on Monday, February 1,” said Lecce.

Schools in the north of the province have been attending class in-person since January 11 due to slower spread of the virus.

Schools in public health including Grey Bruce, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge, Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington, Leeds, Grenville and Lanark, Peterborough, Renfrew County and District Public Health Unit, were given the go ahead on January 25.

In the news release, the province noted that local public health units "continue to have the authority to close schools" as they see fit and parents can also choose to continue with remote learning rather than sending their children back to the classroom.

Lecce's statement outlines which school boards will be able to reopen, and when:

"Elementary and secondary schools in four additional public health units (PHUs) will be permitted to return to in-person learning on February 1, 2021. This will bring the total number of students able to learn in-person to 520,000 across the province.

The four additional PHUs are:

• Eastern Ontario Health Unit
• Middlesex-London Health Unit
• Southwestern Public Health
• Ottawa Public Health

This means that all schools in the following schools boards will resume in-person learning on February 1:

• Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario
• Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario
• Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l'Est ontarien
• Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Centre-Est de l'Ontario
• London District Catholic School Board
• Ottawa Catholic District School Board
• Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
• Thames Valley District School Board
• Upper Canada District School Board

Two additional school boards that span across multiple PHUs may have some schools that resume in-person learning on February 1, 2021 while other schools will continue to teach remotely. The local PHU should be contacted on the status of schools in these boards:

• Conseil scolaire catholique Providence
• Conseil scolaire Viamonde"