Questions abound as schools set to open

Lunch in the classroom, no lockers, no library access, no assemblies – that’s what back-to-school will look like this fall for elementary and secondary school students.
Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) has released some information about how in-class learning will resume but local union reps say there are still many questions to be answered.
Teachers, administrators, and public health officials are still waiting for specific information from the province while the Ministry of Education develops a COVID-19 outbreak protocol that will provide direction on contact tracing and enhanced health and safety protocols to reduce the risk of transmission.
The local branch of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation has concerns about the delay in releasing that plan, as schools are opening on Sept. 8.
“Probably our biggest concern overall is the lack of messaging and policy created by the ministry,” said Jen Hare, OSSTF teachers’ bargaining unit president for District 17, which includes Stayner Collegiate Institute and Collingwood Collegiate Institute. “The lack of leadership at the top is what’s causing chaos at the bottom.”
“We’re getting a better picture of what classes will look like in the fall but we’re not happy with what we’re hearing,” said Hare.
Of those concerns, she said, the number of students per class is a big one.
With a maximum of 36 students per classroom, Hare said there is concern that students will not be able to maintain the required two-metre separation.
In high schools, students will be cohorted to two groups, with the potential of having up to 36 students in each group. That exposes students to potentially 72 students per day, plus anyone on their bus if they access transportation services. At lunch, students will have to remove their masks to eat lunch.
“They are also in classrooms where the windows don’t necessarily open, if they even have windows,” said Hare. “So, the ventilation is a huge concern when we look at ‘lines of defence’ and that’s a big thing that we are conscious of right now is how many barriers, how many safety measures are there in place between me and the kids?”
Of specific concern is some of the specialty classrooms found in high schools, where counters and workspaces are affixed to the floor and cannot be moved.
Hare said there are also a lot of questions about accommodations for teachers who, for various reasons, are not able to put themselves at risk.
Hare said the union has been told that about 15 per cent of students are opting for online learning, instead of returning to the classroom. The union would like to see vulnerable teachers be allowed to deliver the online instruction, but that may not be the case. It has been said that students who choose online learning will be clustered with students from multiple schools and that their instruction will include real-time access to teachers.
“We’re saying that those kids should be taught by SCDSB teachers who have either a medical complication themselves, or they have someone in their home [who does], so they need to be kept safe by being allowed to work in a remote environment rather than, potentially, 70 students a day,” said Hare.
There is some additional funding promised by the province but Hare said OSSTF is also asking the school board to dip into its reserves to help fund additional space within its existing infrastructure to allow students to have more space to distance. Currently, there is no additional funding allocated to custodial staff and the onus for sanitization is being put on high school students.
“We’ll have to watch those students like hawks to make sure they’re actually doing it and/or we’ll probably end up doing it ourselves,” said Hare.
“There’s all kinds of policy stuff that we’re just not sure of. We don’t have a procedure for what happens when somebody in the school gets COVID.”
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is also waiting on direction from the province before it is able to create a policy for the school board.
All four of the major education unions are requesting to meet with the Minister of Labour and representatives from the Ministry of Education, contending that the government’s “Guide to Re-Opening Ontario’s Schools” fails to meet the requirements set out in the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act.
“By reopening schools without measures to appropriately address critical issues, the Ministry of Education has placed the health and safety of educators, their students and the entire school community in significant and imminent danger,” states a letter sent to the Ministry of Labour on behalf of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), and the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO).
They are asking for limited class sizes to allow for necessary physical distancing; minimal measurable standards for ventilation in schools; mask requirement for children under age 10; adequate screening for students; and adequate safeguards for student bus transportation. The plan also fails to adopt the concept of cohorting in a manner consistent with current research, particularly by allowing cohorts of up to 100 students at the secondary level.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) is working with local schools and school boards to support back to school planning, and has information and resources to help guide parents in returning their children to school.
“The safe return to school is at the forefront of everyone’s minds right now and we know that it has been difficult to make decisions about whether to send your child or children to school or have them do on-line learning,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, SMDHU’s medical officer of health. “Everyone’s situation is different, and the decision to send your children to school in person needs to be one that works for you and your family.”
Returning to school is very important for children and youth. It’s good for their education and well-being, and for the whole family. However, as more spaces open for people to gather (like schools), there will be the potential for more cases of COVID-19. Unfortunately in living with this risk we cannot prevent all cases, but we can take action to help prevent outbreaks and to reduce the numbers of cases.
The health unit is working closely with school boards to prevent COVID-19 transmission as much as possible, to identify and manage cases of COVID-19 and to prevent its further spread in schools. Keeping community transmission low is key to keeping schools safer, and COVID-19 rates locally are very low currently, making attending school in Simcoe Muskoka a safe choice for most children and families at this time. In addition, schools will have many measures in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 being introduced into the school setting, and to lessen the risk of spread if COVID-19 is introduced, such as: requiring you to screen your child for symptoms each day; prompt isolation of sick children and staff; physical distancing to the extent possible; enhanced cleaning measures; cohorting (keeping groups together) to the extent possible; use of face coverings is required for students in Grades 4 to 12, and encouraged for students in Kindergarten to Grade 3.
“There is no risk-free option with COVID-19 and it would be unrealistic to think that we can get through the next few months without some risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the school classroom,” said Gardner. “The job of parents is to decide which of the options is best for their child and family at this time and the job of the health unit is to continue to keep transmission in the community low to help stop COVID-19 from entering schools in the first place.”
SMDHU will continue to work with school board partners, parents, and the community on the safe return to school and will continue to support schools throughout the year. For more information, including return to learning guidance and resources, visit the health unit’s website at www.simcoemuskokahealth.org. Parents can also call Health Connection to speak with a public health professional weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 705-721-7520 (1-877-721-7520).