Ontario's Plans for Reopening K-12 EducationOn July 30 the Ontario government announced its direction to school boards across the province for the reopening of schools. A major issue with the plan is that it does not change or limit class sizes in elementary schools so as to contribute to students being able to physically distance from one another the minimum one metre recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). At a press conference Premier Doug Ford said, "We're going to get our kids back to schools in a way that looks and feels much like it used to." He emphasized that the plan had the go-ahead from the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health and other "top public health officials" as evidence that it was based on sound medical and health considerations. "We're taking every step and every precaution to be ready for September,'' he said. "While we're facing an unprecedented situation, we're prepared for anything, armed with the best medical advice available to protect your child at school." Ontario's Chief Medical Officer has also given the green light to a guidance that would permit infected workers to continue working in the agri-food sector in order to maintain the profits of these businesses. This situation causes a serious lack of confidence in public authorities and leads to a mistrust of government directives, as the refusal to take control of the outbreak in agribusinesses and elsewhere is what is fueling continued community transmission in areas like Windsor-Essex. The direction for reopening schools was made under Regulation 364/20, issued under the powers of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, and then continued under the government's omnibus Reopening Ontario Act. An important note is that Regulation 364/20 is specifically for Stage 3 of reopening; however, not all areas of the province have reached Stage 3. Windsor-Essex remains at Stage 2 as a result of the new cases that continue to be reported on a daily basis, especially in the agribusiness sector but also in the community at large. This is significant because nowhere in this plan is it indicated that school openings should depend on local conditions. This is a critical absence in the plan as it means school boards are being asked to carry on as if the reality of how and to what extent the virus is spreading in a given area is not the major guiding factor.
The province originally issued a planning document for school boards on June 19 with guidelines that included limiting class sizes to 15 students wherever possible and relying on cohorting and distancing of students. The new direction states that since that time "public health data has changed considerably, with daily confirmed cases significantly declining" and now is in a position to direct protocols and procedures for the reopening of schools. So, the government's plan now appears to use the overall drop in confirmed cases to change its requirement for classes of 15 students or less where possible. What the government is not explaining is that there is more evidence now about how the virus spreads through respiratory droplets of different sizes and the importance of physical distancing. There is also more evidence from other countries that decreasing class sizes to ensure physical distancing is a critical measure for preventing the spread of the virus in schools. The government claims that school boards will follow public health advice and respect their collective agreements with teachers in preparing for the new year. However, the fact that there is no requirement for physical distancing between students in elementary schools, for example, actually goes against public health advice. This is a major flaw in the government's plan. It is not investing the funds required to ensure the guidelines for physical distancing can be adhered to with lower class sizes. Instead the responsibility is put on school boards to "follow public health advice" without having the means to implement one of its main tenets. The new direction states that most schools in Ontario will open for students on September 8, 2020. School boards are expected to schedule three days of professional activity prior to September 8. All school-based staff, including supply/occasional teachers and other occasional staff, will be required to participate in a one-day paid health and safety training session prior to the opening of schools. Elementary SchoolsAll elementary schools with students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 in the province will open for conventional in-person delivery of teaching and instruction, five days a week, with 300 minutes of instruction per day, remaining in one cohort for the full day, including recess and lunch. Against all recommendations by the WHO, there is no requirement for physical distancing by school boards as class sizes will be funded as they were prior to the pandemic. Rotary subjects such as French or Music (where students are taught by a different teacher in their home classroom or go to a different classroom to be taught by a different teacher) will continue to be taught, and students will also be permitted to leave class for special supports with the caveat that direct and indirect contacts in schools for students should be limited to approximately 50. This caveat is not being mandated for staff -- a rotary teacher normally sees up to five different classes of students per day. This is an example of how the refusal to provide the investments required may be used to force teachers to come in contact with multiple classes each day, risking their health and that of their students. In-person attendance for all students will not be mandatory. Parents can opt their children out of in-person delivery and have the learning done from home. Teachers are expected to provide online learning for students who stay home. The government indicates that students in Grades 3 and 6 will not participate in the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) assessments in the 2020-21 school year. The rationale for not participating is not presented. The EQAO is the province's standardized test required for elementary students in grades 3 and 6. The test is administered in each class by the student's teacher. The test was also cancelled for the past academic year. The cancellation of the tests two years running itself is a savings, likely close to $70 million dollars. Secondary SchoolsSecondary schools will be permitted to open with "conventional delivery," and enhanced health and safety protocols, apart from in 24 school boards designated by the province. These boards -- the biggest in the province -- will open on an adapted model, with class cohorts of approximately 15 students, on alternating schedules with at least 50 per cent of in-class instructional days. The designation of these school boards "is based on several factors that take into account the size of the school board, the number and size of the board's secondary schools, the size of secondary grade cohorts and whether the board is predominantly urban." A full list of the designated school boards can be found here. In designated schools, students will be assigned curriculum-linked independent work to do on days they are not physically in school and would, where possible, participate in live online learning with their teacher and classmates for a period of each school day. This would mean that teachers are expected to teach classes in person every day and teach online every day, something that is not possible without more staff and supports. School boards are being asked to organize their timetables over a one- to two-week period in order to "limit indirect and direct student contacts to approximately 100 students in the school; and [...] keep secondary school students in a maximum of two in-person class cohorts."
The "quadmester model" -- where students take two credits at a time, spending the morning on one subject and the afternoon on a second subject, with four segments to the school year -- is being presented by the government as a model school boards can follow to reduce mixing of students in four or eight classes as would normally be the case in semestered and non-semestered schools. Another option presented is for smaller secondary schools to cohort grades of students and ensure that only students in a specific grade are in classes with each other. The government indicates that cohorting of students in grades 11 and 12 will be more difficult than in 9 and 10 as students have more options for elective classes in upper grades compared to the standardized required classes in earlier grades. To address this, the government indicates that school boards are working to provide "the same range of other classes through remote learning," an indication that there will be an emphasis on elective courses being offered online in a "study hall model" in which students would be cohorted with the same group of students to take online courses. A class of students in study hall might take a range of courses during the same class period. It is important to note that while normal class averages in secondary school are funded at 23 students to one teacher, online courses are funded at a ratio of 30 to 1. Students in high school are being encouraged to take online courses through TVOntario's Independent Learning Channel to fulfill their elective requirements. Last year, the Ontario government had planned to make it a requirement for students to take at least four courses online in order to graduate. This was eventually changed to two mandatory online courses, put in place prior to the pandemic. The pandemic is now being used to present online courses as an exceptional non-mandatory measure, when in fact it is something the government tried to bring in previously over widespread public opposition. Graduating students will continue to be required to fulfill the 40-hour volunteer community involvement graduation requirement but can do so virtually.
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The Ontario
government's plan for reopening has been made without the participation
and input of the various unions and federations that represent teachers
and education workers across the province, and without any input from
students or parents' groups on any objective basis. In fact, in the
name of "Reopening Ontario" the government is using emergency powers to
impose its agenda to eliminate funding from education through an
emphasis on high class sizes and "choice" in education that
emphasizes online elective courses which have larger class sizes in
high school.
The government is
also recommending -- not requiring nor funding -- that school boards
plan that students with special needs for whom adapted timetables or
remote learning may be challenging, be able to attend school full-time.
Again school boards are being left to fulfill their requirement to
affirm the right to education of the youth without the necessary
funding, which means that violating this right is being put into their
hands so the government can pass the blame to them.
