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August 27, 2020 - No. 56
The Fight for Safe Reopening of
Schools in Ontario
Education Unions Say Reopening Plan Fails
to Meet Legal Health and
Safety Requirements
Rally at Queen's Park for safe schools, August
12, 2020.
• Education
Workers United Hold Forum to Discuss Safe
Return to Schools
• Toronto School Board
Objects to Administering an Unsafe Plan
• Halton School Board
Decries Province's Contradictory Directives
• Trustees and
Principals Speak Out
• Medical and Scientific
Professionals Weigh In
• Windsor-Essex Virtual
Open Forum Discusses Reopening of Schools
• Petition to Reduce
Class Sizes to Keep Communities Safe:
The Fight for Safe Reopening of
Schools in Ontario
Parents and Education workers set up Ford's
"COVID classroom" on
Queen's Park Lawn, August 12, 2020.
 Ontario's four
main education unions take the position that the
Ministry of Education has violated the Ontario
Occupational Health and Safety Act
by failing to implement health and safety
measures that "take every
reasonable precaution necessary" to protect the
health and safety of
their members working in elementary and
secondary
schools, school authorities and staff at other
public educational institutions
in Ontario. The legal challenge was issued in an
August 13 letter to
the Minister of Education and the Minister of
Labour signed by the
Association des enseignantes et des enseignants
franco-ontariens
(AEFO), the Elementary Teachers' Federation of
Ontario (ETFO), the
Ontario
English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA)
and the Ontario
Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF).
In their letter, the unions say that given the
absence of scientific
consensus or certainty on significant aspects of
COVID-19, the
government has a duty to apply the precautionary
principle to protect
the health and safety of their members, and
request an immediate
meeting with representatives of the government
and the Ministry of
Labour's
health and safety inspectorate. They assert that
the government's Guide
to Reopening Ontario's Schools is in fact a
Direction to school boards,
and that in directing school boards' plans the
government now has
responsibilities as the employer under the Occupational
Health and Safety Act.
Furthermore, the unions argue that they have a
duty
to raise this matter as they have not been
properly consulted in the
development of the government's Direction to
school boards.
Specifically they identify the following areas
of concern which they
argue constitute the government's violation of
the Act:
- the refusal to
require physical distancing in elementary
schools, which would require reduced class sizes
- not ensuring
minimum measurable standards for ventilation in
schools
- failure to
establish a mask wearing policy for children
under 10
- failure to follow
guidelines for cohorting by allowing up to 100
students in secondary schools to be in contact
- failure to provide
adequate screening measures for students
- failure to provide
adequate safeguards for student transportation
on buses.
The letter states that by re-opening schools
without appropriate
measures in place that address these critical
issues and others, the
Ministry has placed the health and safety of
their members, students
and the entire school community "in significant
and imminent danger."
The unions are demanding that the government
therefore amend its
Direction to include measures that address these
"significant
deficiencies" before school reopens on September
8. Any failure to make
the necessary changes will represent a serious
danger or hazard to the
health and safety of teachers and education
workers, the unions say.
This language specifically is in line with the
conditions required for
a
worker to refuse to perform unsafe work.
The unions point out that since the spring of
2020 they have
attempted to engage with the Ministry of
Education in meaningful
discussion about plans to reopen schools and
have been ignored. As a
result, they say they have no alternative but to
invoke the protections
of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
to affirm the rights of
their members.
The unions state that they would be prepared to
go directly before
the Ontario Labour Relations Board before
schools are reopened in
September to obtain a final determination on
whether the government's
Guide complies with its obligations under the
legislation "to take
every reasonable precaution" to ensure that
schools are a safe
workplace
for teachers and education workers. The letter
can be seen here.
Thursday,
August 27 -- 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Education
Workers United is holding an open online forum
under the theme
"Organizing a Safe September for All " to
discuss the safe return to
schools.
 They have issued
the following call for the forum:
"Education Workers! On August 9th, over 300
Ontario education
workers came together to plan what we need for a
#SafeSeptember. Since
then our campaign has exploded! With only a few
weeks until school
starts, there is still much more to do -- Join
us:
"At this forum, you will:
"Hear from a variety of education workers about
significant safety issues
"Learn about tools and resources to help you
and your coworkers take action
"Hear from a labour lawyer about your right to
refuse unsafe work
"When we organize with our co-workers and our
communities to build
our power, we can force this government to fund
a #SafeSeptember."
To sign in to follow Ontario Education Workers
United, click
here.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB),
Canada's largest school
board, put forward two proposals to the Ontario
government for
re-opening, both of which have been rejected.
Both plans would have
reduced class sizes in elementary schools which
under the government's
current plan are set to be the same as under
normal conditions.
Reducing class sizes is a key demand for
ensuring physical distancing
is possible, as recommended by medical experts,
which thus far the
government has ignored for elementary-aged
children.
The TDSB's plans
had students being dismissed earlier than
normal, which would have
permitted students to be with their homeroom
teacher the full day
and then would have freed up rotary teachers to
take homeroom classes
instead of going from class to class, increasing
the number of classes
in a school and therefore reducing class sizes.
Their first plan
requested a $200 million investment in order to
hire the staff required
to ensure physical distancing would be possible.
Their second plan
proposed to use some government funding and some
school board reserves
as well as moving teachers who were seconded to
other assignments back
into the classroom. However the TDSB indicated
that this plan would
still not meet the required 15-20 students in a
class to ensure
physical distancing.
The government rejected both plans, claiming
the reason it was
unwilling to put forward the funds required was
because the plans did
not maximize the time students spent in class.
It said it would not
accept plans which would see earlier dismissals.
In other words, the
government wants to keep students in school as
long as is possible
rather
than ensuring that class sizes are small and
that teachers and
education workers are able to deliver the
education and supports
students require. This means that its aim is to
turn education into the
housing of students in an unsafe environment to
free up parents to
work, rather than to open schools in a manner
which affirms the right
of the youth to
education in the conditions of a pandemic.
On August 21 the Halton District School Board
(HDSB) issued a
public letter to Education Minister Stephen
Lecce. The Board addressed
the Minister's return to school announcement on
August 13 in which he
said that the Province's Chief Medical Officer
of Health had signed off
on the current return to school direction
maintaining
existing class sizes in elementary schools. But
in the same speech,
Lecce stated that school boards have the
"choice" to implement greater
distancing between students and smaller class
sizes.
 "This
is highly confusing and puts our board in a very
difficult position,"
said the HDSB. "The announcement created an
expectation that would be
nearly impossible to meet, particularly before
September 8."
"In Halton, over 1,200 new teachers would be
required to lower
elementary class sizes to 15, and additional
space would need to be
sourced and outfitted, transportation arranged,
etc. In addition to a
multitude of logistical challenges, and a lack
of rental spaces in
areas of need, it is anticipated that the cost
to do so would be well
in excess of
the amount our board could access from
reserves."
The Board also noted that it had planned to
have a model that fit
the government's requirement for 50 per cent of
in-class time based on
2.5 days of in-class instruction per week, which
it had no indication
would be a problem. Then, when asked about that
model at a press
conference, the minister said the government
wanted students to spend
at least half of every instructional day in
school, or alternatively
one week of full days in school followed by a
week of remote learning,
which caused confusion and forced the school
board's planners to pause
and seek clarification and eventually modify
their plan.
Addressing a government announcement that it
would invest $50
million to upgrade and address HVAC systems
across the province to
ensure proper ventilation in schools, the Halton
Board pointed out that
the cost to retrofit just one older secondary
school with a partial air
conditioning system has historically been in
excess of $1 million.
In conclusion, expressing their frustration the
HDSB said:
"Minister, you have spoken many times about
working together. It is
very challenging when these announcements come
with no advance notice,
and Boards hear about them at the same time as
thousands of concerned
citizens of Ontario who, in turn, expect school
boards to have
answers. These announcements may trigger complex
revision processes
that often require additional direction from the
Ministry which may or
may not come in short order. You have also
mentioned "scaling up" a
number of times, inferring that other
announcements could be coming.
Systems and people are under great pressure. At
this time, staff
need to focus on implementing plans for return
to school in just over
two weeks."
Trustees in various boards have been speaking
out and are rejecting
being placed in a situation of administering an
unsafe plan. They are
trying within their roles to speak out at board
meetings; however they
note that their role is strictly to approve
budgets and that
operational matters are directed by the
Ministry. In spite of this they
have
been passing motions to call on the government
to change direction and
properly fund class size reductions and other
measures necessary for a
safe return to school.
The Ontario Principals' Council has also gone
on the record calling
for lower class sizes to ensure physical
distancing in elementary
schools, as well as a delayed or staggered start
to the new year to
ensure schools can slowly reopen, and expedited
testing for potential
COVID-19 cases.[1]
Besides "allowing" school boards to dip into
their own reserves to
lower class sizes, the government has thus far
only said that it will
permit schools to stagger students' return to
school over up to two
weeks and says it has a plan for rapid testing
of high school students.
However this does not mean that school boards
are being allowed to
delay the start of school to implement new
plans. Some boards
requested a delay and this was rejected.
Instead, it appears that the
government is allowing boards to delay
face-to-face start-up but
requires that online learning begin on September
8.
Note
1. Ontario
Principals' Council Statement on Reopening
Schools
Local public health units are also speaking out.
For example, the
Medical Officer of Health in Windsor-Essex who
has experience with the
consequences of large COVID outbreaks in
agri-food operations in the
area has said that he continues to recommend
physical distancing of at
least two metres in schools. This sets up a
situation in which
the government's plan which does not require or
provide the means for
physical distancing will violate the
recommendations of local health
units, leading to a clash of authorities when
workers or parents identify the lack of physical
distancing as a health hazard.
In a letter addressed to Ontario's Chief
Medical Officer of Health
the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario is
also publicly
appealing to the government to mandate physical
distancing and smaller
class sizes, proper ventilation and masking for
all school children,
saying the opening of schools should be
postponed, if necessary, until
all the
conditions are in place for a safe reopening.
Meanwhile a study led by researchers from the
University of Waterloo
used a mathematical model to explore ways class
sizes and
student-to-teacher ratios can influence the
number of infections and
in-class time lost in schools and daycare
centres. The study, which has
yet to be peer reviewed, predicts based on its
models that the current
class
sizes in elementary (which are generally between
20 and 30 students)
will result in many more students becoming
infected and many more days
of closed classes than would class sizes of 15
or less because of the
need to quarantine contacts of infected
individuals for 14 days. This
study suggests that by keeping elementary class
sizes high
the government is in fact setting things up for
minimizing rather than
maximizing in-school time for students based on
exposing higher numbers
of students and staff to the risk of infection
-- not to mention their
families who will also have to quarantine. This
would presumably have
repercussions in the economy as well.
Instead of addressing these legitimate concerns
and demands from so
many quarters, the Ontario government has
decided to deflect from its
abdication of its social responsibility to
protect all members of the
society by trying to blame "the teachers'
unions" for the chaos and
turmoil its own unsafe reopening plan is giving
rise to. This
makes clear that it is the teachers and
education workers and
their unions, parents, students, administrators,
medical and scientific
experts and other collectives of the people who
are refusing to
conciliate with the government's failure to do
its duty that are
playing the decisive role by speaking out and
taking action to put
forward their own proposals for what a safe
reopening of schools
requires.
On August 9, Education is a Right Podcast
organized a virtual Open
Forum for educators, students, parents, and
other concerned community
members in the region of Windsor-Essex to
discuss plans for the reopening of schools. The
forum was called in the context of the
Board of Trustees of the Greater Essex County
District School Board (GECDSB) holding a special
meeting August 11 to
approve their local plan based on the provincial
government's
guidelines that neither impose nor fund minimum
physical distancing
standards in elementary schools.
 It
was held while Windsor-Essex continued to have
community transmission
and outbreaks of COVID-19 in a number of
workplaces despite moving into
Stage 3 reopening. Stage 3 calls for observing
public health
guidelines and physical distancing requirements.
It was noted that the
government's school reopening plan makes this
impossible
where full attendance is required in all
elementary schools. This added
an extra layer of concern over reopening plans
as opening schools
where there is community transmission represents
a danger, not just to
students and staff but to the entire community.
Participants in the forum included students,
elementary and
secondary teachers, both permanent and
occasional, support staff from a
variety of areas including speech and language,
educational assistants
and counselors, as well as concerned community
members and parents.
They decided that a summary of the discussion
would be provided to
inform others about concerns and everyone was
encouraged to contact
their trustees before August 11 when the public
school board was to meet to
receive its plan for reopening. The summary that
was produced was
e-mailed to all trustees in advance of the
meeting.
In addition, everyone was encouraged to contact
the local public
health authority to express their concerns and
demand that schools not
open unless proper physical distancing is
funded, especially in the
elementary panel, and to sign and share a
petition to that effect
addressed to the local Medical Officer of
Health.
Go to the Linked document titled -- Summary of the Discussion.
As of August 27, over
242,000 people have signed the
following online petition to Ontario Minister
of Education Stephen Lecce and Premier Doug
Ford started by a Toronto teacher.[1]
The petition reads:
The Ontario government's 'plan' for reopening
schools
essentially amounts, in most elementary and
middle school grades, to
sending 30 students and a teacher back into a
room for 6 hours/day with
poor to no ventilation and probably only enough
space for 30 cm of
distancing between desks. This is shameful and
demonstrates a reckless
and
disturbing lack of care for the health and
safety of our children,
teachers, school staff, and communities.
We have evidence from countries and regions
that went back to
school in the spring to show that it CAN be done
safely, without a
surge in cases. The evidence suggests that the
way to do this (along
with other measures) is SMALL CLASS SIZES.
Denmark, Norway, Finland,
Germany, Greece, Belgium, France, Switzerland,
and British
Columbia offer examples of this.
(The petition lists
various newspaper's articles which highlight
that evidence suggests that smaller class sizes
are key to safe return
to schools)
Meanwhile, Israel offers an example of a
country that went back to
school with full-sized classes, and had
disastrous results, going from
well below 100 cases a day to over 1500 daily
(see articles linked
above). (Note: some point out that it is
difficult to blame this
increase entirely on schools reopening, since
bars and other public
spaces
reopened at the same time. It is worth pointing
out that in Ontario,
schools are also set to open within several
weeks of bars and other
public spaces).
Is this government counting on this plan
achieving smaller class
sizes because parents with the means to do so
will pull their children
out of school for at-home or private options
(thereby undermining our
public education system)? In communities that
are hardest-hit by COVID
already due to socio-economic inequities, most
parents will not
have the resources to keep their children at
home or to turn to private
options. Meanwhile, Ontario families with the
greatest privilege and,
generally speaking, the most power to advocate
for a properly funded
education system, will opt out of a system that
fails to protect them.
This is not acceptable.
The most up-to-date report from Sick Kids on
reopening Ontario
schools stresses that the government MUST
prioritize reducing class
sizes. ("COVID-19:
Guidance for School Reopening,")
- Addressing structural deficiencies, such
as large class sizes,
small classrooms and poor ventilation, must be
part of any plan to
reopen schools" (pg. 2).
- Smaller class sizes should be a priority
strategy as it will aid
in physical distancing and reduce potential
spread from any index case
Decisions should take into account the available
classroom space in
addition to the number of exposures that would
occur should a student
or staff test positive Where needed, the use of
non-traditional spaces
should be explored to accommodate smaller
classes in order to allow
daily school attendance. This may necessitate
additional
teacher/educational resources" (pg. 10).
The evidence suggests that with smaller class
sizes, we might
actually have a shot at remaining in school
full-time this year. Even
for a government that doesn't want to spend its
dollars on the public
good -- wouldn't it be cheaper to spend the $3.2
billion now or
whatever it will take
and avoid the enormous costs to the healthcare
system and the economy
when this absurd "plan" fails?
As parents, grandparents, students, teachers,
school staff, and
community members, we DEMAND a back-to-school
plan that we can trust to
give us a chance at staying in school this year.
Families must not be
forced to choose between risking their safety
and opting out of our
publicly-funded education system.
Notes
1. To sign the petition,
click
here
(To access articles
individually click on the black headline.)
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