Students and teachers are virtual one week and in-class the next.

With the Premier’s office revealing the news Monday night of the return of in-person learning starting on January 17th, there is a mix of excitement and nervousness.

At least that’s the sediment from President Mike Judge of the local branch of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario.

“They are eager to have the masks and the additional filters,” Judge explained. “We’ve also been pushing for other measures, including reduced class sizes. We have some classrooms where we are nowhere close to the recommended ability to distance up to two meters… we can’t even maintain a meter.”

The province unveiled Tuesday that school cases will not be reported anymore and that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 tests will only be provided to elementary and secondary students and staff who become symptomatic at school.

Additionally class or school closures will be based on operational needs.

Judge fears the day when teachers or other staff might have to isolate at home for COVID-19.

“We’re concerned that we are going to get to places where there just aren’t enough staff to run the schools properly, and the stresses that will place on them to make things work, or the fear of schools having to close down as a result of staffing shortages,” Judge noted.

When it comes to vaccinating his members, Judge couldn’t provide a percentage of those that signed up for the clinics this week but did say that the overwhelming response forced organizers to schedule more clinics next week.

The public schools have received the N-95 shipment but are waiting on the HEPA filters.