It will take everyone being on the same page before the province allows children to resume in-class learning, said Premier Doug Ford.
At a news conference yesterday, Ford said there are differing opinions among those on the science table as to whether or not schools should be reopened. For instance, Dr. David Williams, the province’s chief medical officer of health, is in favour of re-opening classrooms, but there are other doctors on the science table who aren’t in favour of that decision.
“We just have to get at the table and make sure everyone agrees on this,” Ford said. “There’s also the fact COVID-19 cases could increase cases by 11 per cent if we open schools again, which is a huge concern for me. We can’t afford an increase of 11 per cent right now.”
Furthermore, Ontario teachers have threatened to file an injunction in court should the province re-open classrooms, said Ford.
It’s a claim the premier has made before. On May 13 when he was asked about the school year, Ford referred to a threat of an injunction from teachers unions.
As reported by The Toronto Star last Thursday, Ontario’s teachers unions aren’t sure what the premier is talking about. Both the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the English Catholic Teachers’ Association said they weren’t aware of any injunctions.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation did file an injunction last April before the spring break, but it was specific to York Region and only asked that schools there remain closed until teachers received their first vaccination shot.
That injunction didn’t go anywhere because the province shut down schools entirely, and extra PPE and additional measures were provided to special education teachers who continued to provide in-person instruction.
When asked if there isn’t a consensus on re-opening classrooms, if the school year would be a write-off, Ford said it’s too early to tell yet.
“There are tons of kids on my street who ask me when they can go back to school,” said Ford. “The news of an 11-per-cent increase is very concerning. I would love to get the kids back in school, but at the beginning of June, they will start to get vaccinated. We aren’t rushing into it.”
At this time, publicly funded and private elementary and secondary schools in the province will continue to operate under teacher-led remote learning. Data will be assessed on an ongoing basis and medical experts, including the Chief Medical Officer of Health, and other health officials will be consulted to determine if it may be safe to resume in-person learning.
