Ontario to make an announcement about schools as NDP criticizes government for waiting days before planned return

The province’s medical director of health will inform parents on Thursday afternoon if the children are to return to school as scheduled on Monday after the holidays.

Other provinces such as Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador have already informed families that the start of schools will be delayed due to the skyrocketing increase in COVID-19 cases with the more transmissible Omicron variant.

The extra time serves as a buffer between the expected increase in infections due to socializing at parties and the start of school, and giving staff time to prepare.

In British Columbia, the government announced Wednesday that children with special needs and those whose parents are essential workers will return as planned on Monday, but all other students will gradually return to classes with full attendance the following Monday, January 10.

Parents here should have been informed by now if their children will return to school given there are only days left before classes resume after the break, says Marit Stiles, education critic for the NDP.

“People are anxious, frustrated that there have been no announcements about school reopening” or improvements to classroom safety, Stiles said Thursday morning at a virtual press conference with NDP leader Andrea Horwath.

The former Toronto District School Board member said she hears from parents who are “incredibly frustrated by the lack of communication. It’s everything we think of as parents ”and everything children ask.

“Families must make decisions about work and childcare for the next week,” he said. “Employers don’t know if employees will go back to work and education workers need to know what to do to be prepared.”

The NDP is urging the province to provide free rapid tests to students and staff, conduct vaccination clinics in schools, require vaccinations for school personnel, and add COVID injections to the list of school vaccinations for children, and provide masks. N95 for all staff.

Horwath said that “there is a reason that Ontario is the province in which the most children have not been to school in the country, and that is (Prime Minister) Doug Ford.”

Meanwhile, the Ontario Families Coalition, a group of parents who oppose school closings, has emailed its supporters saying that even a few days of school closings is not acceptable and will take legal action if necessary.

“Even if it is framed as a delayed reopening, we know from past experiences that this could lead to prolonged school closings that harm children’s mental, academic, social and physical health,” the coalition said. “Every day counts for the kids and we will tolerate NO late starts. It is time to hold decision makers accountable who have repeatedly failed to prioritize children. “

The coalition is asking for donations to file a court order if the in-person classes don’t start on Monday.

“The injunction is a legal recourse that forces someone other than the government (that is, the courts) to consider the weight of the now comprehensive and indisputable evidence that demonstrates the harm done to children by continued shutdowns. schools and the shift to poor virtual learning. . “

Dr. Peter Juni, scientific director of the province’s COVID-19 science board, told the Star on Wednesday that school closings should not occur until the government places other restrictions to curb COVID-19, including tighter capacity limits and work from … home recommendations.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Health Medical Director Dr. Kieran Moore have said their priority is to keep schools open.

“We know how critical face-to-face learning is, so we have followed the advice of the medical director of health and invested in safer schools, with better ventilation in all schools in this province,” said Caitlin Clark, director of Lecce relations. with the media, on Wednesday.

“With the Omicron variant upon us, we take nothing for granted as we work with the medical director of health on the way forward to protect in-person learning and keep all students, families and staff as safe as possible.”

Since the pandemic began, Ontario has closed schools and moved children online for at least 26 weeks, more than any other province.

Because Ontario’s case counts are at record highs, and since families socialized over the holidays can lead to more infections, Dr. Anna Banerji believes that keeping children learning at home for a week or two could be the answer “because it is not like that, it makes a lot of sense to open schools and then close them again.”

A letter signed by more than 500 Ontario physicians was sent to Prime Minister Doug Ford, Lecce and Moore saying that “numerous jurisdictions around the world have pledged to keep schools open regardless of the number of cases, and we must do the same “.

They note that while there have been cases of COVID in schools, “there has been little or no transmission of COVID-19 in the school setting” and children appear to contract milder cases.

The Ontario Public School Boards Association said it expects to hear from the government sooner rather than later and would prefer a regional approach.

“We need to know by the end of the week,” said President Cathy Abraham, adding that the boards support “what the public health units believe is the safest thing for our staff and students to do.”

He also said that we “recognize the challenges” to the mental health and well-being of students when we move to online learning, “but we also recognize the challenges of this virus.”

Abraham said he would like the government to provide N95 masks to teachers and staff.