School boards will have no choice but to collapse and combine some classrooms when school starts this fall as administrators take into account the number of students opting for online learning, the head of Ontario's trustees association said. Cathy Abraham, who is president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association, said the decisions will vary at different boards — and happen on a school-to-school basis — as in-person enrolment numbers are finalized. School boards must adhere to funding agreements with the Ontario government which means class sizes will remain the same despite the student opt outs, she said. "I understand why people are kind of surprised to be hearing about this," she said, adding that school boards are dealing with regularly changing requirements from the government because of the pandemic. "Without a cap on class sizes, (boards) will have to reorganize classrooms to meet the government requirements."

Source: CBC News September 01, 2020 17:25 UTC