Toronto school board voting on whether to cancel classes on day of solar eclipse

Canada's largest school board is voting Wednesday on whether it should revise its school calendar so students can stay home on the day a rare solar eclipse will chart a course through parts of Canada.

Canada's largest school board is voting Wednesday on whether it should revise its school calendar so students can stay home on the day a rare solar eclipse will chart a course through parts of Canada. 

If the Toronto District School Board votes in favour of the revision, it will join at least six other Ontario school boards, as well as two school service centres in Quebec, that have already notified parents classes are cancelled on April 8 in preparation for the celestial event.

"Looking directly at the sun during the eclipse, without appropriate protection, can lead to serious problems such as partial or complete loss of eyesight," TDSB staff state in a document that outlines the agenda of Wednesday night's board meeting.

"There are also traffic related safety concerns as thousands of children would be returning home at the end of the day in temporary darkness ... Out of an abundance of caution, staff is recommending that the Board move the (professional activity) day scheduled for April 19, 2024 to April 8, 2024."

"There is no significant impact in changing the date," it added.

School boards in the Greater Toronto Area, like ones in the Peel, Durham, and Halton regions, have already made the change, the document noted. The other boards have moved a previously scheduled professional activity day to April 8.

The eclipse is expected to be observed in Mexico first at around 11:07 a.m. PDT, when the moon will move in between Earth and the sun, casting a partial or total shadow on the "lucky humans" who are able to observe the moment, said Elaina Hyde, a professor of physics and astronomy at York University in Toronto.