Ontario's New Democrats are calling for the government to release more details on a school reopening plan for September including the specific metrics it will be using to make decisions. The government has said it's already released some plans for the fall and is looking to provide "final guidance" on things like masking and cohorting for activities in July.

"We don’t want to send our students and our families, teachers, education workers off for the summer with so much uncertainty, we need to know now what the metrics are the government is going to be looking at when they make these decisions," said NDP education critic Marit Stiles at a press conference in Hannon on Friday morning.

"What are the metrics, what are the measures that this government is using? We have no idea, and I think that is what is leading to so much uncertainty across the system," said Stiles. "Is it going to be a certain percentage of education workers vaccinated and youth? It is going to be air quality testing in classrooms? What is this government going to use as their measure to ensure that we are on track to being in school in person in September and until they come out with that information for us, everybody is going to be living with uncertainty."

Providing an update on the rollout of vaccines for youth earlier this week, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the government was "fully committed to delivering a more normal, safe and stable September." As of Friday, more than 54 per cent of youth aged 12–17 had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

"As we look ahead to September, we continue to work with the incoming and outgoing Chief Medical Officer of Health to ensure we continue to deliver a safe and more stable school year for students, supported by Ontario’s $1.6 billion investment to continue health and safety measures that have and will keep schools safe," he said.

His spokesperson, Caitlin Clark, reiterated this message on Friday, saying that prioritizing education workers and youth aged 12 and older for vaccines before the start of school "will enable more flexibility and allow for a more normal in-class learning experience — including clubs, sports, and extra-curriculars."

Asked about releasing a more detailed plan for September, the minister last week pointed to some of the government's previous announcements including $85.5 million for "learning recovery" focused on reading and math and the COVID-19 specific supports.

"With respect to the final guidance, I’ve always said the chief medical officer of health in July is going to make an assessment of our COVID vaccine rates for students and staff as well as the broader public health indicators, where the COVID case numbers are and the trajectory we’re on, that was the plan for last year, it’s what we’re doing this year," he said, though he didn't indicate specific thresholds for each of those.

Lecce said he spoke with both the province's outgoing and incoming chief medical officers of health about the timeline and they felt providing this guidance in July was doable "with the aim of a more normal, more positive and more interactive school experience for children."

The Ministry of Education said the information going to school schools this summer would include guidance on screening, masking, hand hygiene, cohorting for clubs and other extracurricular activities.

The NDP also stated several other asks for the reopening of schools in September, as have other opposition parties, including smaller class sizes and the scrapping of any plans to use the hybrid learning model, which involves educators teaching both in-person and online students at the same time. Unions have also spoken against this form of learning.

"We need to know that they’re going to stop terrible hybrid learning, that our kids are going to be supported with extra resources in the classroom come September, we’re not going to have terrible quadmester models that just don’t work for anyone, we’re going to invest in the ventilation, in the kind of action that our kids need that’s up to date in terms of the science," Stiles said. "We want to see real investment and we want to see this minister and this premier come forward with a plan now."

Pointing to this past year, the government said it didn't mandate a specific learning model, such as the hybrid one, but Stiles still laid blame on the government.

"The minister needs to start taking some responsibility and actually be very clear that that is not a model that is going to suffice for this coming school year," she said.

The York Region District School Board said in a May update that it would be implementing the hybrid model for the 2021-22 school year.

"Through feedback, we have heard from families that their priorities include students being connected to their home school, the ability to switch more readily when required between remote learning to in-person learning, and access to continuity of remote learning as needed," said Louise Sirisko, the board's director of education. "Through the hybrid model, families will continue to have the ability to opt for in-person or remote learning, and placement for all students will be in their home school."

Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca has also been doing a campaign-style set of media availabilities to discuss the party's "recovery plan" for the education sector and outline their calls for this fall.

Del Duca's plan calls for class caps of 20 students, which the party estimated would cost $1.1 billion. This includes 3,800 more teachers for high schools and 6,700 more in elementary schools. He has previously said while the party initially called for class caps of 15 students, the province has a bit more flexibility now with vaccines rolling out and declining case numbers. The NDP is maintaining its ask of class sizes of 15 students.

He accused the government of a "lack of consultation" with all education stakeholders, something unions have also criticized the government on, adding that he thinks this means the fall plan "will not be solid."

Key to any health and safety protocols is ventilation and ensuring that windows can open, for example, said Del Duca.

"I want to see real tangible outcomes attached to that — how many schools still have substandard air ventilation or air quality?" he said.

Government says school boards can expect guidance on masking, screening, cohorting for extracurriculars in the summer

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