Toronto school boards plan to do remote learning Monday due to snowstorm

TORONTO -- Students in the Greater Toronto Area may need to wait one more day before they can return to the classroom.

A significant snowstorm moving through the region Sunday evening into Monday is threatening to delay the planned reopening of publicly funded schools in Toronto and surrounding areas.

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) advised their students Sunday evening to prepare to attend online classes if heavy snow forces the closure of schools and cancellation of school buses.

“While we had shared last month that if buses were cancelled, it would be a typical “snow day” (no live learning), as the entire system has already been learning remotely for almost two weeks and given the disruptions to students’ learning, we feel it would be best to extend remote learning for one additional day in kindergarten to Grade 12,” the TDSB said in a message posted on its website.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) also confirmed Sunday that students will have to participate in classes virtually if in-person learning gets cancelled due to the storm.

“While we had shared TCDSB’s Inclement Weather Protocol last month, given the unique circumstances with school staff and students already learning/working remotely for the last two weeks, we felt it would be best to continue with remote learning for students in kindergarten to grade 12 for one additional day, to avoid any further disruption to learning,” the TCDSB said.

Environment Canada initially issued a snowfall warning for the Toronto region earlier Sunday but upgraded its advisory to a winter storm warning late this evening.

The federal agency warned that the region could see snowfall amounts of 25 to 35 centimetres by Monday evening.

“Snow, at times heavy, with peak snowfall rates of 3 to 5 cm per hour possible Monday morning, which will significantly reduce visibilities,” Environment Canada said.

“Local blowing snow is also possible Monday afternoon and evening with gusty northerly to northwesterly winds.”

The snow is expected to taper off Monday night.

The TDSB and the TCDSB said they will notify parents and students about school closures or bus cancellations at 6 a.m.

Here's what other school boards in the GTA are planning for Monday's snowstorm:

Peel District School Board

Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board

York Region District School Board

York Catholic District School Board

Durham District School Board

Durham Catholic District School Board

Halton District School Board

Halton Catholic District School Board