TDSB writes to Lecce citing ‘extraordinary developmental needs’ of kindergarten students due to COVID

In a written letter to Ontario’s education minister, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) chair says it’s worried about the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on its youngest students.

TDSB Chair, Alexander Brown, wrote to Stephen Lecce expressing concerns regarding kindergarten children’s “extraordinary developmental needs.”

“New students entering Junior Kindergarten in the 2022-23 school year will have spent the vast majority of their existence living through the COVID-19 pandemic,” Brown wrote to Lecce.

“Early childhood development depends on experience, particularly social experience, which stimulates, tunes and hones the brain’s unfolding architecture. Because of the pandemic, opportunities for social experience have been limited due to closed childcare services, community centres, playgrounds, social distancing and other factors.”

As a result, Brown says the TDSB is asking Lecce and the provincial government for help in developing “a strong foundation for learning in Grade 1 by providing an early childhood educator in every kindergarten classroom.”

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Ontario’s Ministry of Education’s existing kindergarten program only allows for an early childhood educator in classes of 15 students or more.

In response, a spokesperson for minister Lecce highlighted what the province has committed to school boards to date, saying Ontario is one of the few provinces in Canada “offering all-day junior and senior kindergarten for families.”

“To support the hiring of roughly 3,000 additional staff — including educators, ECEs and EAs — the government announced over $300 million for the coming school year,” Grace Lee said in an email.

“This will enable higher staffing levels, along with the largest tutoring expansion and mental health funding in Ontario history, to better support students as we work to get them back on track.”

Lee says the province is further committing just under $700 million as part of educational funding next year, adding that the investments and protocols “go above and beyond other provinces in staffing supports, ventilation measures, accelerated boosters and N95s for all education and childcare staff.”

She acknowledged the deficit young children had been faced with due to the pandemic.

“Throughout this period, the Ministry of Education’s collective focus has been on delivering the best educational experience while protecting schools against the spread of COVID-19.”

Last week, the province’s chief medical officer of health rejected proposals to extend COVID-19 mask mandates at schools in multiple regions, including at TDSB facilities.

Brown asked for “additional time to approach the removal of protections within schools.” However, Moore said that “with the peak of Omicron behind us, Ontario has been able to cautiously and gradually move through its reopening milestones.”

The TDSB said it would stick to Moore’s recommendation despite asking for an extension.

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Brown says that the Ministry of Education’s Kindergarten program includes a team approach with only one teacher and one early childhood educator in each classroom.

In his letter to Lecce, Brown defines the role of early childhood educators as “having knowledge of early childhood development, observation skills and assessment skills, citing other levels of expertise.

A January study conducted by Nature Research found that although children accounted for only a tiny proportion of the infected population and likely showed less severe symptoms than adults, children are vulnerable to sudden changes in their physical and social environment.

These include physical activities, sleep patterns, eating habits, and psychological responses.

“A major change in children’s social life might be that, as the result of kindergarten and/or school closure, children had to be confined at home for a certain period in many countries, including Japan, to prevent the virus from rapidly spreading. This school closure has impacted students’ learning environment all over the world,” researchers wrote.

“More importantly, it could have influenced children’s social development. Nevertheless, although studies have examined children’s mental health, it is not well known how school and kindergarten closure owing to the pandemic affects social relationships between children and others, such as parents and friends.”

Masking requirements lifted across most settings in Ontario as of this week. Most other public health measures, including workplace vaccination policies, will be eased by April.

In early March, the Children’s Health Coalition (CHC) said it had hoped that Ontario’s masking mandate would have remained in place weeks after March break.

The CHC went as far as to encourage staff and students to continue masking as it remains “an important layer of protection as the pandemic continues.”