b"While this has most definitely been a school year like no other, highlights of our advocacy and work in the past year include:The COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the school year will undoubtedly be remembered as the defining issue of 2019-20. The last day of full in-person classes was March 12, and following the March Break, schools and child care centres were closed across the province by the Ministry of Education, acting on public health authority advice. Within weeks, the Ministry of Education had launched the Learn at Home remote learning portal, and school boards were providing both asynchronous and synchronous remote learning opportunities for students from Kindergarten through to Grade 12. The Association shifted its way of operating to adapt to the new normal, and continued to advocate effectively on behalf of the best interests and needs of the public school system in Ontario. Throughout this process, OPSBA remained in constant contact with the ministry and member boards to ensure an information flow between school boards and the government.Due to the pandemic, and the restrictions on public gatherings in place from March onwards, OPSBAlike other organizationswas forced to adapt the way it conducted business. Similarly to what occurred at our member boards, business was shifted to online meetings held on platforms such as Zoom. The annual Education Labour Relations and Human Resources Conference that was scheduled for April 30 and May 1, 2020, was cancelled. OPSBA's May 3 and 4 Board of Directors meeting was rescheduled to be conducted via Zoom on May 23, and Education Program and Policy Development Work Team meetings were held via Zoom as well. The Board of Directors made the decision to postpone the June 4 to 6, 2020, Annual General Meeting, which is now to be held virtually in September 2020.Following consultation with OPSBA, and other stakeholders, on May 9, the government approved an emergency order that enabled available school board employees to be voluntarily redeployed to congregate care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, including hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes, and women's shelters. Many of these congregate care settings were in need of staff such as custodial and maintenance workers. OPSBA was supportive of school boards across the province providing this opportunity for their staff to give back to their communities during this time of crisis. Each school board decided whether they had the capacity to redeploy staff, and only those staff who volunteered were eligible for redeployment. Hundreds of English public school board employees volunteered, and while few temporary matches were found, the significant willingness of board employees from the English public sector to take part greatly impressed the government.Throughout June, July, and August 2020, as COVID-19 case numbers decreased from earlier peaks, school boards worked with the ministry to develop multi-option plans for students and staff to restart in-person learning in September. OPSBA conducted public polling with Nanos Research to gauge public opinion on a number of important issues including levels of satisfaction with remote learning during the early stages of the pandemic, and comfort levels with a return to in-person learning. Nearly 70% of Ontarians who reported having experience with online learning in the 2019-20 school year said the experience was positive (21%) or somewhat positive (48%). A highlight from the Nanos polling conducted from June 23 to 28 showed that more than half (53%) of Ontarians with children in the public school system were somewhat comfortable or comfortable with students, staff, and education workers returning to the school environment in September on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health. This percentage clearly increased at most boards over the summer months as community spread of COVID-19 was significantly reduced and much of the province moved into Phase 3 of the reopening plan. 2"