The President of the Greater Essex Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario is not surprised with the outcome from the local public school board's Back to School Confirmation Survey.
Mario Spagnuolo says he was expecting a number lower than 70 per cent based on results from other school boards from across the province.
"The numbers from what I know represent that parents have concerns," says Spagnuolo. "There is a significant amount of students that are not returning to in person learning and I think that reflects the concern that's in our community especially in Windsor which was a hot spot."
As heard on AM800 news Tuesday morning, sixty-five per cent of elementary students will attend classes in person full-time with 23 per cent choosing online learning and 12 per cent will use the offline printed packages at home.
"We're happy that many parents have responded but at the same time we're still concerned that with 65 per cent of our students returning to in class learning, the government has yet to respond to the concerns that teachers, educators and school boards have pointed out the last few months," says Spagnuolo.
At the secondary level for the public board, seventy-six per cent of students will return to school in an adapted, in-person learning program that will involve taking courses equally in both the classroom and at home.
The remaining 24 per cent will have their classes entirely online.