Murphy Browne © August 27-2020
"The Ontario government's 'plan' for reopening schools essentially amounts, in most elementary and middle school grades, to sending 30 students and a teacher back into a room for 6 hours/day with poor to no ventilation and probably only enough space for 30 cm of distancing between desks. This is shameful and demonstrates a reckless and disturbing lack of care for the health and safety of our children, teachers, school staff, and communities."
Excerpt from online petition, "Ontario Demands Better: Reduce Class Sizes to Keep Schools and Communities Safe" written by Kelly Iggers, teacher-librarian with the Toronto District School Board
In August, following the Provincial government’s July 30, announcement that they were reopening schools on September 8, an online petition, "Ontario Demands Better: Reduce Class Sizes to Keep Schools and Communities Safe," was written by Kelly Iggers, a teacher-librarian with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB.) The reason the petition was written included the spectre of overcrowded classrooms with poor ventilation. The Ford government expected parents to send their children into classrooms where there would be no space for social distancing. From the document “Updated COVID-19:Guidance for School Reopening” published by Sick Kids Hospital, experts on July 29, 2020, advised: “Addressing structural deficiencies, such as large class sizes, small classrooms and poor ventilation, must be part of any plan to reopen schools.” The experts also advised that: “Smaller class sizes should be a priority strategy as it will aid in physical distancing and reduce potential spread from any index case.” The document was created by a core group of healthcare workers at The Hospital for Sick Children and Unity Health Toronto, including those with expertise in paediatrics, infectious diseases, infection prevention and control, school health, psychiatry and mental health.
Parents across Ontario expressed dissatisfaction with the Ford Government’s plans for the reopening of school for the 2020-2021 school year. There were no concrete plans to ensure that all classrooms in the schools across Ontario would be safe spaces for students and staff dealing with the pandemic. Iggers in her petition noted: “Addressing structural deficiencies, such as large class sizes, small classrooms and poor ventilation, must be part of any plan to reopen schools.”
Parents and community members were outraged at the piecemeal “back to school” plans of the Ontario Conservatives. They thought that the details of the plan were inadequate, especially the plans for elementary schools, as the government wanted to retain the original class sizes. The thought of elementary classrooms with as many as 30 students, and dodgy ventilation did not sit well with parents. The Ontario Principals’ Council, which represents 5,000 elementary- and secondary-school leaders, said that all class sizes should be limited to ensure two metres between students, and for kindergarten classes to be capped at 15 students. The unions that represent more than 190,000 teachers and education workers, said that the Ontario government’s back-to-school plan violates occupational health and safety legislation. The government is now allowing the boards of education to spend from their reserve funds, from their operating budgets, to hire more teachers and find new spaces for classes.
The TDSB interim director Carlene Jackson noted that the $131-million reserve is set aside for “future obligations” such as benefits and long-term disability insurance. She said it would “not be prudent or good financial management” to use a large amount of the reserve funds to cover the entire cost of small classes. With just a few days left before the possible return to class of Ontario’s two million students, the government has not assured or ensured that enough has been done to make the return to school safe for the returning students and staff. As of Thursday, August 27, more than 242,144 Ontarians, including parents, grandparents, students, teachers, school staff, and community members had signed the "Ontario Demands Better: Reduce Class Sizes to Keep Schools and Communities Safe" petition.
The Ford government would do well to heed the advice of Kelly Iggers who wrote the petition. She wrote that “At full capacity, schools and classrooms are not physically big enough to accommodate the physical-distancing measures that are key to preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Schools should plan to reopen for in-person learning in November. In September and October, most students should continue to learn online, although these two months should also be used to retrofit schools and field test the physical return to school for limited numbers of elementary and high school students.”
Murphy Browne © August 27-2020
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