Ontario's April spring break for schools to proceed as planned: Lecce

Ontario schools will have their spring break in April as planned, but certain changes to the school environment may be coming when students return.

Ontario’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce spoke about the coming spring break in the Queen’s Park question period Tuesday.

“When it comes to April break, we plan to proceed,” he said. “We’ll continue to follow the best advice of the chief medical officer of health. And if anything changes given the fluctuations, we’ll make sure all families know that well in advance.”

Lecce also said the Ministry of Education would be announcing a plan in the coming days to enhance school safety when children return after the April break. He hinted it could include expanded testing and stronger screening protocols for students to enter school.

“We appreciate the challenge that this pandemic has imposed on working parents. We know this is not easy. Their patience, their flexibility, their commitments to work with government and their public health agencies,” he said.

Spring break is currently set to begin on April 12.

• See also:
  • Spring break decision for Ontario schools coming by end of week
  • Ontario postpones March Break for all schools to April
  • Three more Toronto schools close due to COVID-19 infections

Premier Doug Ford said Monday that a decision on whether spring break would be further delayed due to soaring COVID-19 case counts would be coming by the end of this week.

Spring break, which is usually called March break in Ontario because it happens in March, was pushed back this year because of rising community spread of COVID-19.

On Monday, three more Toronto schools were advised to close by public health due to COVID-19 transmission among students and staff.