Windsor-Essex school boards consider keeping kids home for solar eclipse day

For many people across southwestern Ontario, April 8 will be an opportunity to witness a once-in-a-lifetime event — a total solar eclipse.

According to a map published by GreatAmericanEclipse.com, the southwest corner of Essex County (including Harrow and Leamington) and the lower half of Chatham-Kent (including Blenheim and Ridgetown) will fall under total eclipse between 3:13 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. that day. 

Surrounding areas in those regions are expected to fall under a partial eclipse.

Windsor's English public and Catholic school boards are making a decision on whether or not students should stay home on April 8 since the eclipse would take place around the time they are heading home from school.

This would eliminate the possibility of children looking directly at the sun during their bus ride home, along with students being forced to walk home in temporary darkness.

On Tuesday, the Toronto Catholic District School Board voted to move a PA day up from April 19 to April 8.

Carrie Coates, a parent of two school-aged children, said she would like to see schools in Windsor stay open during the day of the eclipse.

"I do think it could be a teachable moment, especially in the classroom. Kids love crafts and it also educates the kids about what's going on in their world," she said.

According to CTV News’ Science and Technology Specialist Dan Riskin, one craft which kids can put together to help them safely view the eclipse is to make a pinhole projector using a cardboard box.

"The light will go through that little tiny hole. If you do it over the sidewalk and have a nice flat surface, you can see the getting eaten by the moon and as it gets totally covered."

Another method of seeing the eclipse safely, outside of purchasing a pair of eclipse-friendly glasses, is to use binoculars — but not in their traditional use.

"You don't ever look at the sun with binoculars because that's how you fry ants with a magnifying glass. You will literally burn your eyes," said Riskin.

Instead, he recommended turning the binoculars so the sunlight can pierce through the lenses. If angled "just right," the light of the eclipse will be shown on the ground.

"So this is another way to visualize the sun without looking directly at it," said Riskin.

A portion of Essex County and Chatham-Kent will fall under a TOTAL solar eclipse on Apr. 8, with the rest of these regions falling under a PARTIAL eclipse.

Take a listen as @RiskinDan discusses some creative ways to view an eclipse safely.

(Map GFX credit: @AmericanEclipse) pic.twitter.com/izVFv4Mkos

— Sanjay Maru (@sanJmaru) January 31, 2024

Spokespersons for both the English public and Catholic school boards in Windsor-Essex have said they plan on messaging parents Thursday regarding whether or not classes will run April 8.

Riskin said he hopes school is off for April 8 — but safety has little to do with his rationale.

"For parents to say, 'I don't want my kid looking at the sun, so I'm going to stick them in the basement when this happens,' that is criminal," said Riskin, who added a total eclipse could inspire some kids to become astronomers or astronauts.

"Every kid, and grown-up for that matter, should have an opportunity to experience this: to be outside in the middle of the afternoon and have it suddenly get dark, all the stars appear and all the birds go quiet. Then, it gets light again after just a few minutes. It's the weirdest experience you could possibly have."

As for Coates, she pointed to another reason for why she wants schools to remain open April 8.

"It’s difficult to find child care throughout the day especially. So I hope they just stick to the schedule the school board had given at the start of the year," she said.