Premier Doug Ford is planning to keep schools closed for the remainder of the academic year though the decision still has to be finalized by members of his cabinet, sources tell CTV News Toronto.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams and Ontario’s Science advisory table have lobbied for a resumption of in-person learning but Ford has been hesitant to allow children to return to the classroom due to concerns over a potential increase in case counts.

The sources tell CTV News Toronto that members of the government’s planning and priorities committee met on Monday and opted not to allow schools to reopen for the final few weeks of instruction, even on a region-by region basis.

The decision, however, still needs to be finalized by cabinet during a meeting scheduled for Wednesday and could be reversed.

News that schools will likely stay shuttered until the fall comes in the wake of Ford reaching out to dozens of public health experts and stakeholders to solicit their feedback on a potential return to the classroom.

In a letter sent to the experts last week, Ford expressed concern about the six to 11 per cent increase in COVID-19 transmission that the science table has suggested could arise from reopening schools as well as the presence of the B.1.6.1.7 variant that was first detected in India.

He also pointed out in the letter that “schools were the sources of more outbreaks than workplaces or any other location” in April. Prior to the closure of schools, Education Minister Stephen Lecce had contended for months that they were safe and were not a significant source of COVID-19 transmission.

“Keeping children safe is our foremost consideration, which is why as experts in health, public health and education we are seeking your perspective,” Ford wrote.

Schools have been closed since April

Schools have been closed for in-person learning since early April but calls have been growing louder in recent days to allow children to return to the classroom, if only for a few weeks.

Williams has been particularly vocal, telling reporters last week that “ideally” he would like schools to reopen before Ontario entered the first phase of its reopening plan under the logic that “schools should be the last to close and the first to open.”

The top doctors for Toronto, Peel Region and York Region have also publicly stated that they would support resuming in-person learning before the end of the school year.

Nonetheless, the sources tell CTV News Toronto that Ford’s government is concerned that several public health units would not be able to permit in-person learning due to higher cases counts or outbreaks. Those sources say that the government is also concerned that reopening schools in some regions could drive up case counts.

The premier’s apparent intention to keep schools shuttered comes despite advice from numerous health experts, who have spoken up about the impact of the protracted closure on the health and wellbeing of children.

Speaking with reporters at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath accused the premier of “shortchanging our schools” and failing to make the necessary investments to keep them safe.

“Doug Ford made the choices that led us here to kids not being in school and it didn’t have to be this way,” she said. “They could have made the schools safer and we could have had kids in school much more often than we have had during this pandemic and Doug Ford just didn’t want to make that investment.”

Horwath refused to say whether she would choose to reopen schools with so little time left in the academic year, only saying that she “wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.”

She also urged the government to provide parents with clarity as soon as possible, noting that it has “been dragging along for long enough already.”

“It is really frustrating to watch this government try to protect its political skin as opposed to doing the right thing by children parents and education workers,” she said.

It is not immediately clear when the Ford government plans to announce its decision.

Government officials have previously set a target date of June 14 to begin reopening parts of Ontario’s economy.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Colin D’Mello.