As an epic blizzard swept through southern Ontario, many schools returned online for the day or closed completely due to stormy winter weather.
Environment Canada said Toronto was hit with a blizzard Monday morning, resulting in 40-60 cm of snow. The weather agency said strong winds up to 60 km per hour was causing visibilities near zero.
Snowfall heights reached the highest Toronto has seen since 1999, and kids across the city enjoyed the most snow they’ve ever seen.
As the worst conditions were expected from 9 a.m to 11 a.m., school boards cancelled busses, giving students the first snow day of the year.
But some parents were disappointed to hear that although classes had been cancelled in person, some school boards were moving classes online for the day.
“I don’t care what the TDSB says, today is a snow day at our house. Kids are only little for a short time and the joy the snow brings is worth a missed day of school,” said Toronto parent Jessica Pigeon-Sauve.
Here are the school boards in and around Toronto that have closed schools due to inclement weather:
Toronto District School Board and Toronto Catholic District School Board: The TDSB and TCDSB said all schools were closed to in-person learning but virtual learning continued for the day. All buses were cancelled.
Peel District School Board: All schools were closed and all classes cancelled. No classes were held in person or online. No buses ran.
York Region District School Board and York Catholic District School Board: All schools were closed and buses went out of service. The board said students would engage in optional asynchronous learning, new material will not be introduced.
Halton District School Board and Halton Catholic District School Board: All schools were closed Monday and all in-person and virtual classes were cancelled.
Durham District School Board: All busses were cancelled and schools closed. Learning continued online for students.
In December, the TDSB released a statement that in the new year, all classes, including online, would be cancelled in the case of a snow day.
But at 7 p.m. on Sunday night, some parents and teachers were surprised to hear classes in the TDSB were to be held online Monday due to inclement weather.
“For ETT members, taken for granted and continually belittled and treated with contempt by the provincial government, this is a bitter pill to swallow from our employer… To be treated with such disregard under current circumstances, during such stressful times, is beneath contempt,” the president of Elementary Teachers of Toronto, Jennifer Brown said in a statement Sunday.
Parents were also disappointed with the decision of classes being online, opting instead to give their children a snow day.
“I could go on and on about experiential learning, benefits of being outdoors, science of snow etc. but the reality is that today is a snow day, and I want my kids to know that it’s ok to take a day off to dig out, enjoy the fresh snow and be kids,” said Toronto parent Nathan Vanderkooy.
“It’s also not OK to spring out a change in policy at 7 p.m. on Sunday.”