Waterloo public school board reopens confirmation of attendance form

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) has reopened the confirmation of attendance form which allows parents to state whether their kids will be in class this fall.

The board says parents have until Friday at 4 p.m. to make or update a decision.

It says that if a caregiver resubmits a form for a child, it will use the most recent form to confirm the choice of learning method.

The board initially asked parents to fill out the form between Aug. 5 and Aug. 13 and it said it received more than 62,000 responses.

In a report published earlier this week, preliminary results showed that 83 per cent of elementary kids would be returning to full-time learning in classrooms on a daily basis.

That number was much higher for high school kids as 89 per cent were expected to be in classrooms, though they would be in classrooms 50 per cent of the time.

The board has asked parents to make a choice so they can better plan for the upcoming school year.

The responses are not binding, though if a decision changes, students may have to wait until a specific date to reenter into schools so that staffing accommodations can be made.