Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustees will meet next week to discuss what to do about the Ontario government dropping its mask mandate.
Notice of the meeting on Monday evening came after Premier Doug Ford slammed Ontario school boards who are asking for the mask mandate to be extended beyond March 21.
Several OCDSB trustees had called for a special meeting in the wake of the province’s announcement. Board staff are looking at whether the board has the authority to institute its own mask mandate after the province’s expires, one trustee said.
Officials at other school boards have pushed back against the Ford government’s plan to end mask mandates on March 21, right after March Break.
Two Toronto school boards have both formally requested that the lifting of the mask mandate be put on hold. School board trustees in Hamilton voted Thursday night to keep masks for students and staff until April 15.
The premier on Friday pushed back against those efforts.
“Let me be very clear to the school boards, they aren’t medical experts,” Ford said in Barrie, Ont. “The chief medical officer is the expert and he’s done his due diligence.”
Ford said his expectation is that all school boards drop mask mandates on March 21, allowing parents to choose whether they want their children to wear masks.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce also released a statement Friday saying that school boards are expected to drop mask mandates in line with the province.
Some have called for Ottawa Public Health to institute its own mask mandate in schools, replacing the province’s. Medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches poured cold water on that idea Friday afternoon.
“We know this really is the provincial government’s area of direction, and it would be difficult to implement something locally if the provincial government isn’t in support,” she told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron.
Etches said she stays in regular contact with Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore about what changes can be implemented if COVID-19 transmission in the community starts to grow.
“The best option I have is to work with Dr. Moore to look at what options can be implemented in Ottawa if we’re starting to see a different trend.”
OPH issued a statement Thursday that although Etches can issue orders under the HPPA, “there are limits to the circumstances when those powers may be exercised.”
“For example, a local Medical Officer of Health is currently not in a position to mandate masking in provincially regulated school and childcare settings.”
The OCDSB meeting is at 7 pm on Monday and will be livestreamed here.