'School will look and feel different' this fall, says Morrison

It is unlikely to be business as usual at P.E.I. schools this fall, says Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison.

Morrison was asked during her regular public briefing Thursday morning if there was any way schools could start now preparing for the fall.

"School will look and feel different than it has in the past," said Morrison.

"Students are thinking about it, teachers are thinking about it, principals, right across the board."

Schools closed for March break just days after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, and have not been open for classes since. Learning has been online. Earlier this week, as part of Phase 3 of easing restrictions, teachers were allowed to schedule individual meetings with students.

It is very difficult to look ahead as far as September, Morrison said, but she added it is also important to try to provide some guidance this month.

"They'd like to get a good sense of what this could be before the end of June so they're not trying to plan in September," Morrison said.

"Physical distancing, hand hygiene will be important, how we screen our students, how we move in schools, I think that that will all be impacted."

With a large majority of students getting to school on a bus, that will be another big issue, she said. She suggested there may be a mix of online and in-class learning.

It is an issue public health officials across the country are working on, she said.

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