Ontario updates back to school guidance as school boards, teachers feeling left in the dark

As the Ford government confirms Ontario students and teachers will return to the classroom next week, some school boards and teachers are feeling out of the loop about the back-to-school plans.

After several reports surfaced on Monday, Premier Doug Ford’s office confirmed to CityNews that “as planned and previously announced, students will return to in-person learning on Monday.”

New back-to-school guidance from the Ministry of Health states that students will only be eligible for PCR testing if they develop COVID-19 symptoms while they are at school and that cohorts will no longer be dismissed in the event of a positive case. Schools will also no longer routinely notify students in classes with a positive case.

If a student tests positive at school they will need to adhere to the provincial isolation and testing guidelines.

“That now we’re all going to be flying blind is completely inexcusable,” says Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca. “It makes no sense.”

Karen Littlewood is the President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) and says her teachers also do not understand the new guidance.

“Is school a magical place where if you develop symptoms at school you should be tested but if you develop symptoms at home you’re okay?” she asks. “I really don’t understand the reasoning behind all of this.”

The Ford government is pointing out that almost every province has implemented similar testing measures in schools and many Canadian provinces never tracked school cases at all.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce will be providing an update on the back-to-school plans on Wednesday afternoon.

NEW – Education Minister Lecce will hold a news conference tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1:30PM, along with Dr. Moore regarding the "Preparations underway for the return to in-person learning."

— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) January 11, 2022

Two GTA school boards and the Elementary Teachers Federation (ETFO) said as of Tuesday morning they still had not received any formal notification from the Ministry of Education about the return to classrooms.

“We haven’t received any official memo from the Ministry at this point,” says Toronto District School Board (TDSB) spokesperson Ryan Bird. “Just reading all the reports on Twitter.”

“I don’t think we can really talk until we get confirmation.”

The TDSB says it will reveal a full back-to-school plan by the end of the week.

“We know that families have a number of questions prior to the return to school and we are working to provide more information as soon as possible.”

The Peel District School Board tells CityNews they also have not heard anything from the government as of Tuesday morning.

In a statement to CityNews, the board says they are “working closely with Peel Public Health to implement the direction given by the Ministry of Education” but they “have not received notification of this confirmation from the Ministry.”

Referencing the reports that surfaced on Monday evening, ETFO tweeted saying they were yet to receive an official word about a return to the classroom.

“However, we usually don’t hear from the Ministry. #LastToKnow,” reads the tweet.

Read more:

• What is virtual learning doing to Canadian kids?

• Retired teachers to help fill staffing gaps at Ontario schools: Lecce

ETFO, along with health experts and school boards, have pleaded with the Ford government to utilize the two weeks of virtual learning wisely and provide a safe learning environment for students and staff upon their return.

“After witnessing the Ford government’s repeated failure to slow the spread of COVID-19, we aren’t surprised by last night’s return-to-class announcement, if we can call it that,” says ETFO President Karen Brown in a statement.

“We’re left asking, once again, what has been done to ensure in-person learning can return safely and sustainably, and why isn’t the Ford government consulting with ETFO or sharing its plans with us directly?”

Health Minister Christine Elliott was asked Tuesday what has changed to allow schools to safely reopen next week.

“We know it helps students to be in school for their mental and physical health,” she says. Adding the government “has done everything that we can to make school safe for students”

Last week, the Ford government signalled an acceleration in booster shots for education and child care workers while aiming to provide N95 masks to staff in licensed child care settings.

“We have now shipped 9.1 million non-fitted N95 masks for staff and over 4 million three-ply masks for students, and will regularly send new shipments over the coming weeks and months, with masking being mandatory within Ontario schools,” reads a statement from Lecce. “We are deploying an additional 3,000 standalone HEPA filter units to schools boards on top of the existing 70,000 HEPA filter units and other ventilation devices already in schools.”

Bird says more than 600,000 N95 masks have been distributed to TDSB schools.

“The screening tool that staff and students have to complete each day has been updated and we have more than 16,000 HEPA filters in all occupied classrooms with nearly 300 more on the way,” says Bird. “There has also been additional vaccine clinics for school staff to get their boosters.”

Ten vaccine clinics were held this past weekend in the GTHA to accelerate booster doses for education workers.

The Ford government announced back on Jan. 1 it would no longer collect COVID-19 case numbers from schools and child care centres, citing new testing guidelines.

With files from Lucas Casaletto