Canada's largest school board is voting today 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 8th in preparation for the celestial event.
T-D-S-B staff say in a document that outlines the rough agenda of tonight's board meeting that looking directly at the sun during the eclipse, without appropriate protection, can lead to serious problems such as partial or complete loss of eyesight.
They say there are also traffic related safety concerns as thousands of children would be returning home during the time of the eclipse in temporary darkness.
That's why, out of an abundance of caution, staff are recommending that the board move a professional activity day scheduled for April 19th to April 8th.
School boards in the Greater Toronto Area, like ones in the Peel, Durham, and Halton regions, have already moved a previously scheduled professional activity day to April 8th.
A York University professor of physics and astronomy says the eclipse is expected to be observed in Mexico first at around 11:07 a.m. P-D-T, when the moon will move in between Earth and the sun, casting a partial or total shadow.
Elaina Hyde says the eclipse will then be seen in the United States before moving toward southern Ontario, then Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton, lasting for about two hours around the same time many kids in Canada are let out from school.