Ford government outlines 3 scenarios for reopening classes in September

Students will likely return to school in September with a mix of in-class and remote learning, the government announced Friday, though boards will develop various scenarios, depending on how COVID-19 is spreading at that point.

Premier Doug Ford said that with different areas of the province at different stages of reopening, the same should apply to school boards, so there won’t be a one-size-fits-all approach in schools.

“We simply can’t provide a blanket solution for the whole province, instead we need to provide school boards the tools and the guidelines to get the kids back in the classroom,” said Ford. “We need to empower the school boards to make decisions based on their local needs, their local challenges and their local priorities.”

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said boards are being asked to prepare plans for three scenarios: regular in-class instruction with public health protocols, fully remote learning, and a plan that blends the two approaches.

Lecce said he expects all students to start September with the blended model, which will see no more than 15 students in class, attending on alternating days or weeks.

Students in class will interact only with their classmates and a single teacher. That will keep close contact to a minimum, while still allowing students to play with some other students, Lecce said.

That blended model will be evaluated after September, and if public health trends are heading in the right direction, boards could move closer to more conventional schooling.

He adds that parents will also have the option to keep their kids out of class when schools reopen in September.

“We will not put your child or our staff at risk,” said Lecce. “What we have heard loud and clear from parents is that you want to be in the drivers seat and ultimately have a choice. They want, and will have, an option to enroll their child in class or in the strengthened online learning experience. Parents should make that decision and we will respect your choice.”

Watch the premier and education minister’s full announcement below.

Schools across the province have been closed since March 13, when the government moved to shut down much of the province to address the spread of COVID-19.

The school year has continued with remote learning since then.

A report released this week by medical experts from Toronto’s SickKids Hospital said children are not the super-spreaders of COVID-19 they initially believed they would be.

Guidelines on reopening provided by those experts to the province include extra hand hygiene, environmental cleaning and ventilation, and taking classes outdoors when possible – but not requiring masks for kids or discouraging close play.

That document has garnered criticism from some epidemiologists, while other experts say it offers a useful starting point in the conversation.

Dr. Zoe Hyde of the University of Western Australia in Perth posted a thread on Twitter Thursday outlining “serious concerns” about the document that was released by SickKids a day earlier.

Dr. Nisha Thampi, a pediatric infectious disease specialist with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, was among the Canadian experts to also post her thoughts on the social media platform.

Thampi called the SickKids document a “launching pad” and said “broad consultation” should be the next step toward figuring out a safe return plan. She reiterated that in a phone interview later Thursday.

“I can appreciate that with the profile that SickKids has, that there may have been a higher expectation for more definitive guidance,” Thampi said from Ottawa. “But really, for me the focus of this guidance was that children need to go back to school in September because it’s the right thing to do.”

“(The document) actually serves as a launching pad for more conversations with broader stakeholders,” she added. “I think what’s remarkable is that Twitter has afforded us an opportunity to see how engaged Ontarians are in this discussion in coming to a solution that makes families feel safe, teachers feel safe, and most importantly of all, normalizes the experience for children who have already been bearing the brunt of so much of this pandemic shutdown.”

Among the key issues epidemiologists are debating are whether children are less likely to be infected by the novel coronavirus and suffer complications from COVID-19, and if there is enough evidence to suggest they’re less likely to act as vectors of the disease than previously believed.

The SickKids document said “evidence is mounting” that children are less susceptible to COVID-19 and could be less likely to spread it.

Hyde took issue with that statement on Twitter and questioned the references cited in the document, including “a peculiar review” by a Swedish epidemiologist Jonas Ludvigsson that she said incorrectly reported no COVID outbreaks in Swedish schools.

Thampi said Ontario has “limited knowledge” of COVID-19 transmission in children because of early school closures and lockdowns. She added that Ontario kids were not being tested for COVID for months “unless they were admitted” to a hospital.

Dr. Ronald Cohn, the President and CEO of SickKids, acknowledged the criticism in a phone interview Thursday.

In response to the claim the Swedish study is misleading, Cohn said that while the study is not entirely clear in its scientific validity, there are much more recent data that suggest children may not be spreading COVID-19 to the degree one would have initially thought.

“This is really synthesized data from different parts of the world. We’re not making this up,” he said. “We have to still take it with a grain of salt but there is a lot of evidence that has been brought forward.

“I’m not saying – it’s not in the document nor anywhere else – we are not saying that they are not transmitting the disease. It just appears to be at a lower frequency than one would expect.”

The SickKids team said Wednesday that 5,000 symptomatic children were tested with a COVID nasal swab at their hospital since March, with only 30 testing positive. They also tested 1,500 asymptomatic children and found zero positive results.

Hyde also criticized a statement in the SickKids document that said there is a “lack of evidence” to show that wearing a face mask can halt the spread of the virus among children. She said no one has studied this, “as far as I know.”

While face masks have become more commonplace among the general public in recent weeks, the recommendations from the SickKids team does not require children use them in classrooms.

Dr. Michelle Science of SickKids said Wednesday that incorrect use of masks can lead to an increased risk of infection and they wouldn’t recommend them, especially for younger children. If students wanted to wear face masks, Science said “we certainly wouldn’t discourage that,” however.

Thampi suggested a closer look into face shields instead of masks – at least for teachers.

“What I like about face shields are that they’re reusable, they’re cleanable, it covers more of your face. … and also, especially for a child, it’s helpful in terms of being able to read people’s facial expressions,” she said.

“It’s important for them to be able to have that nonverbal communication and also for the teacher to have his or her eyes protected as well.”

Ontario’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce responded to the criticism Thursday, saying that the province is consulting “widely” with medical experts and scientific leaders across the country – including those at SickKids – in order to compile its own guidelines for a safe reopening of schools.

Hyde and Thampi both believe children should be returning to school, but proper safety should be considered before that can happen.

Cohn said the SickKids document was meant to provide a framework for that.

“We won’t be able to eliminate the risk but we can mitigate the risk,” he said. “We can balance the mitigation of risk against children being isolated at home and not being with their friends at school.

“I think we have to find a balance … under the assumption that our public health criteria would allow children to go to school and with this advice we think it can be done safely.”

Thampi said that what might be “missing” from the SickKids document is a detailed outline of how safety precautions would play out. But she said those decisions can’t be made by epidemiologists or clinicians alone.

“If the expectation was for a comprehensive document, then yes, it’s missing something about bus services or education resources for families. But we’re looking at a document brought together by clinical experts in infectious diseases,” she said.

“So I think it’s very helpful for them to have set out a framework for infection prevention and control by clinical experts in child development and complex care.”