The Halton Catholic District School Board is calling on the Ford government to bring back a number of COVID-19 safety measures, including the mask mandate, for classrooms.
In a letter addressed to the education ministerthe board’s chair said since the pandemic measures were lifted late last month, the HCDSB has experienced what it’s calling an unprecedented level of staff absences that are significantly impacting school operations.
“We have received a number of concerns from staff and families in our community,” Marvin Duarte wrote to Stephen Lecce, “we write to you today to share the impact on our district, with the hopes that your Ministry will consider reinstating some of the protective strategies that were in place prior to March 21st, including mandatory masking for students and staff while indoors at school.”
The board said it has seen a 19 per cent increase in staff absences in the three weeks after March break.
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While masks are encouraged indoors at schools, the HCDSB said it has witnessed a marked decrease in the use of masks that has limited its ability to stop the spread of COVID-19 in its school communities.
In addition to staffing shortages, the board also raised concerns about disruption to families and student learning, writing “student illness due to COVID-19 is disruptive to learning for children who are attending in-class instruction, and onerous to families who must take time off work or make arrangements for childcare, which presents another staffing impact due to associated staff absenteeism.”
The board said while the safety measures that were in place until the March break did not eliminate all cases of the virus in schools, the protocols did help to mitigate risks by minimizing exposure to COVID-19 and spread.
“This is especially important for the students, staff and family members in our community who are at greater risk of infection and serious illness,” it added.
In a statement to CityNews, Lecce said, “We believe that medical doctors, not school board officials or teacher unions, should make public health decisions. Every student in every school board in Ontario retains the choice to wear a mask, and that policy will be universally respected, as recommended by the Chief Medical Officer of Health.”
“We will continue to enhance ventilation with 40,000 additional HEPA units, in addition to the 73,000 in schools, 7 million rapid tests monthly, and maintaining enhanced cleaning to keep students safe and in the classroom learning,” the statement read.
With files from Tijuana Turner