KITCHENER -- There has been a lot of uncertainty in recent weeks as teachers, parents, and students try to navigate the pandemic.

While it is up to the province to decide if it will be safe for students to head back to class in September, the Waterloo Region Catholic District School Board is assuring parents that the necessary steps will be taken before that happens.

“Locally we will be making sure we that have taken every precaution to ensure that the environments in which our students are learning are clean, healthy, and safe,” says Loretta Notten, director of education, WCDSB.

“If there were any occurrences of illness of COVID being experienced in that local setting, that immediate action would be taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all of our students.”

Notten says the board is still waiting to hear from the Ministry of Education to know if summer learning programs will be an option and what they might look like.

In April, the provincial government announced that all publicly-funded schools in Ontario would remain closed until at least May 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.