March 13th, 2020

As we learned yesterday, the Minister of Education has issued a Ministerial Order to close all publicly funded schools in Ontario for two weeks following March break, in response to the emergence in Ontario of COVID-19. We can now say that this closure will include ALL child care centres, EarlyON and Before and After School programs in Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) schools.

At this time, we can confirm the following:

• Fees will not be charged for WRDSB operated Before and After school programs
  • For families registered with third-party operated before and after school programs and child care, please contact the provider directly for fee-related inquiries.

We continue to be reassured by Region of Waterloo Public Health that the risk to residents of Waterloo Region remains low.

We will continue to provide updates as information becomes available. For information and updates, please refer to these resources:

• Region of Waterloo Public Health webpage: regionofwaterloo.ca/2019NovelCoronavirus
• Ontario Ministry of Health webpage: ontario.ca/coronavirus
  • Information is available in multiple languages
• Public Health Agency of Canada webpage: canada.ca/coronavirus
• World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/
• Subscribe to our website at www.wrdsb.ca to receive updates
• Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram