Both local English school boards are putting off plans for the annual Grade 9 Math Assessment.
Just days after Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced that boards can decide whether to conduct the test as scheduled this week or wait - due to ongoing labour strife - the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board says it has decided its students will not take the test at this time, noting the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association is starting a job action campaign today, which prevents teachers from administering and marking the assessment.
The Algoma District School Board - meanwhile - says an ongoing job action campaign by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation means prompted it to postpone the Grade 9 Math Assessment, as the teachers aren't participating in EQAO preparation or testing, making it hard to administer or mark the test, or to make needed accommodations for some students.
Lecce had indicated that students who don't take the test now will need to do so in June, though the ADSB is raising concerns that would pose "significant challenges to both school staff and Grade 9 students who are not studying math in semester two" - the HSCDSB says it will "review the matter in the future to ensure fairness" for such students.