Two Mississauga schools going virtual to be used as polling stations

Two high schools in Mississauga are sending students online for a day so that the institutions can be used as polling stations for the federal election.

Malon Edwards, communications manager for the Peel District School Board, confirmed to Daily Hive that students at Stephen Lewis and John Fraser Secondary Schools would be learning virtually on September 20.

“To reduce the number of people onsite at each school, and to help keep students and staff safe, all classes [at the high schools] will be moved to online learning,” Edwards said.

Elections Canada has said that it will follow all local public health measures, such as masking, at polling stations.

• See also:
  • Federal campaigns need to pull out all the stops to get supporters to polls
  • More than 5.7 million Canadians took advantage of advanced voting
  • Absence of on campus polling raises concerns about possible drop in youth turnout

The Ontario Parent Action Network criticized the school board’s decision, arguing that students have only been back in the classroom for a week after months of online learning.

We learned last night that @PeelSchools has forced students & staff at 2 of their high schools to go remote on election day — online — while they give over those schools to adults voting.

ONschools have been closed to in-person learning for 26 wks. Kids have been back a week 😡

— Ontario Parent Action Network (@parentaction4ed) September 15, 2021