KITCHENER -- While Waterloo Region won’t be moving into Step 2 of Ontario’s reopening plan next week along with the rest of the province, some businesses are already planning ahead.
Learning centres say restrictions in Step 2 will continue to have a major impact their business.
Sarah Fretz, who owns Oxford Learning Cambridge, says her facility has been closed to in-person learning since April.
“As long as the schools were open, we were open. When the schools shut down for March Break in April, we were also told to close.”
Fretz was preparing to reopen once Waterloo Region entered Step 2, with safety guidelines in place.
But the province’s announcement on Thursday changed those plans.
“It was a little bit of a punch to the gut,” she says.
Under Step 2 of the reopening plan, places that provide teaching and instruction are only allowed to reopen to in-person learning if the instructional space is outdoors.
“Which, with a parking lot right there and a very high-traffic parking lot because of a gas station, is not a possibility for us.”
Which mean the classrooms at Oxford Learning Cambridge will remain empty.
The school says will only be offering virtual learning for now.
A prospect, some parents aren’t happy about.
“It sucks,” says Cheryl Schmehl. “I think he would’ve had more success at the centre. We probably won’t send him if he were to go because it would be online.”
“[My son] needs Oxford,” says Christine Calcao. “We’ve been doing virtual, but he learns a lot better and is more focused when it’s in-person. I don’t think he’s prepared for Grade 8.”
CTV News reached out to the province for comment. Their statement reads in part:
“Step Two of the Roadmap focuses on the resumption of more outdoor activities and limited indoor services with small numbers of people where face coverings are worn, with other restrictions in place. It is critical that we continue to take a cautious approach to reopening.”
It goes on to say:
“The province’s safe and gradual approach works to ensure that higher-risk sectors, where individuals are in close contact for protracted periods of time, are opening in an environment that is safe with low COVID-19 transmission, high rates of first and second dose vaccination and continued improvements in key public health and health care indicators.”
Fretz says the rules don’t make sense.
“I’m hanging on a thread for the last year and a half, and I’m not sure how much longer I can hang on.”
She’s calling on the province to allow learning centres to reopen to in-person learning, so students can get the educational support they need in a safe space.
