Praise for Ontario’s back to school plan and a pledge to be ready come September.

The province unveiled the plan on Tuesday, which sets guidelines on how the upcoming year will look and the protocols that will have to be adjusted to.

“We’re very excited to get the news, at least earlier than last year, so it’s very positive and we’re going in a positive direction of getting back to normal,” explains Pino Tassone, the Director of Education with the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board. “I think the most important piece is if we’re going back close to normal, it’s great for the mental health and well being of our staff and students.”

Related: Back To School Plan Raising Questions

One of the biggest questions prior to the release of the plan was the protocols around unvaccinated students and staff.

Currently, there are no rules mandating vaccines.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said earlier this week that the government wants to “respect the choices individuals will make.”

“If we do a good job of encouraging and educating our staff and students that it’s important to vaccinate, that’s going to bring our COVID numbers in a positive direction,” stated Tassone. “I think that’s the direction we want to go. To say it’s mandatory at this time, that’s not something I want to enforce on our staff or students.”

Another topic discussed constantly during the pandemic was improving the ventilation in schools, to prevent the spread of the virus.

Tassone says the board is prepared for this, and it is something they have focused on long before the back to school plan was released.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, we’ve worked very hard on our ventilation air quality,” Tassone added. “The only work that we really need to do from this level on moving forward is to ensure we have our HEPA filters in our classrooms, and then we’re done.”

One of the parts of the back to school plan that has everyone excited is the return to clubs, sports, and activities.

“It’s extremely important to be able to do something outside of the school, with other students that they normally are in class with, and it’s extremely important for them to do something they love and enjoy, especially for their physical and mental well being.”

The plan was sent to school boards Tuesday after the province initially said it would be released in July.