PORT HAWKESBURY - For the second consecutive year, the Strait Regional Centre for Education is preparing for an unusual school re-opening - but this time, there is an optimistic tone as the school buildings in Richmond, Inverness, Guysborough and Antigonish Counties prepare for an academic year that could more closely resemble the pre-pandemic public education system.

Nova Scotia is currently in Phase 4 of its five-phase COVID-19 re-opening strategy, with several previous restrictions either loosened or eliminated entirely. As a result, the provincial Back-To-School Plan released on August 23 will allow full in-class learning with the associated academic, social and emotional supports; continued use of outdoor learning, small-group instruction, and enhanced use of technology; full resumption of music classes, band programs, and sports; use of cafeterias, lockers and cubbies; extra-curricular activities and community use of gyms, following core public health measures. 

Non-essential visitors will be permitted as long as they follow all safety protocols, and parents and guardians of pre-primary and primary students will still be able to visit schools on their child's first day in class. 

As well, according to SRCE Regional Executive Director of Education Paul Landry, ongoing inspection and maintenance of school ventilation systems will continue, and school counsellors, SchoolsPlus staff, and others will provide "timely and appropriate" mental health supports for students.

While masks are required for anyone inside a school building or a school bus at this stage of the academic year, they will become optional once Nova Scotia enters its Phase 5 of the re-opening strategy. While this phase is tentatively scheduled to begin on September 15, it will only come into effect once 75 per cent of all those eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination have received the two doses available through Nova Scotia Public Health. As of Friday, only 71.3 per cent of eligible Nova Scotians had received both vaccine doses.