By Jenn Watt

All June graduation ceremonies throughout the Trillium Lakelands District School Board will be postponed, the director of education announced in a letter to the community on May 1. 

Without being able to easily predict what physical distancing protocols will be in place in the next two months, it was decided the ceremonies could not take place as usual.

“We have not taken this decision lightly as we know how important the opportunity to celebrate our graduates is for all of us,” Larry Hope, director of education, wrote. “We have asked our schools to work with their stakeholders to develop a plan to honour our students, and those plans will be developed over the coming weeks.”

His letter said that TLDSB is also fielding questions about when schools will open again. 

“We continue to follow the direction provided by the province, and clearly we are on the same page as we want to do everything as safely as possible. At this time we do not have a return date that is assured. As we learn more, we will certainly update our communities as quickly as possible,” he said.

Hope’s letter also outlined the results of a survey that garnered nearly 3,200 parent responses gauging satisfaction levels with the Learning@Home program showed people are satisfied, for the most part. 

On the question of online programs and tools, 68 per cent were satisfied, 11 per cent dissatisfied, and 20 per cent chose neither. 

On the question of communication between home and school, 79 per cent were satisfied, seven per cent dissatisfied, and 13 per cent neither.

On the question of quantity of school work, 65 per cent were satisfied, 14 per cent dissatisfied, and 20 per cent neither.