This is the last week of summer, and it’s typically a time of great excitement for kids and parents alike. This year though, there is also more than a little amount of trepidation because going back to school means something very different in the era of COVID-19. Perhaps this will help. We're going to look at what your school might look like when you, or your child, are heading back to it in the next couple of weeks.

As we’ve seen in the news over the last few days, the details around back to school plans are changing regularly. On a different week, we might make some time on this pod to plunge into the political and legal concerns and their effect on school board plans, but for now, we will assume that despite minor variations, school will still proceed next week as planned. So what will that look like? 

To learn that, we’re joined this week by Michael Glazier, the Director of Education of the Wellington Catholic District School Board, and Heather Loney, the Communications and Community Engagement Officer for the Upper Grand District School Board.

From the perspective of both boards, we will dedicate this episode of the show to a basic examination of what students and parents can expect when school starts whether your child is going to their physical school in masks, or if they’re remaining at home to do virtual learning. We will talk about what the school day will look like, the new rules for riding the bus, how the classroom will look, what things kids need to bring, and how lunch and recess will work.

Before we begin, these are separate interviews so you can stop the podcast after Glazier, or you can fast forward things about 30 minutes to get to Loney. Or, if you like, you can listen to the whole darn thing so that you can compare and contrast the back to school plans like the political wonk you are.

So let's talk about what to expect when you're going Back to School on this week's Guelph Politicast!

For all the latest updates about the Back to School plans of both school boards, you can visit their websites. For the Wellington Catholic District School Board here, and for the Upper Grand District School Board go here.

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